Rights groups criticize revision to Refugee Act

Asylum seekers and refugees participate in a rally held in Seoul's Jongno District and organized by Amnesty International and NANCEN, a refugee rights group based in Eunpyeong District, calling for better treatment and support in this September 2018 photo. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

'Korea needs better refugee screening, not stricter application rules'

By Lee Hyo-jin

Darwish Musab, 28, was granted refugee status in Korea in April 2018. But, like many thousands of asylum seekers, he had to go through a long process as his application was initially denied.

The civic activist from Egypt and his wife entered the country in May 2016 seeking political asylum. But the Seoul Immigration Office rejected their application after a 30-minute interview. He launched an appeal regarding the decision but was again rejected.

He then took the case to the administrative court, where it was revealed that a written translation of his testimony had been deliberately mis-interpreted with fabrications. The document described Darwish as a construction worker who came here for money. Only after the trial was he given another interview.

"During the whole process, they didn't even look at my evidence ― hundreds of documents and videos ― of the political persecution I faced in my home country. And the interview documents were full of mistranslation and fabrications," Darwish told The Korea Times.

But Darwish considers himself one of the lucky ones as he was given a second chance though it took the help of lawyers to find a legal remedy.

"About 90 percent of asylum seekers are screened out in the initial stage through hastily conducted interviews. That is why applicants need their cases to be thoroughly reviewed several times," he said.

However, it seems that fewer asylum seekers to Korea will see their cases being overturned through appeals and trials, as the Ministry of Justice plans to apply tougher rules for reapplication, according to planned revisions to the Refugee Act announced in December.

Under the revision, those who reapply for refugee status without major changes in their circumstances will be classified within 14 days as "ineligible," a decision which will also deny them opportunities to appeal or file for an administrative trial.

The ministry stated that those whose reason for application was not clearly included among those stipulated in the Refugee Act, will have their application rejected under the category "clearly ungrounded application." Rejected applicants will be given limited access to appeal, and will not be able to receive a work permit.

The ministry said the rules were brought up in a bid to prevent abuse of the refugee law by "fake asylum seekers," adding it made references from similar policies used widely in other countries such as Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The announcement sparked an immediate backlash from refugee rights groups, who believe that the government is using its lack of ability to distinguish those seeking asylum under false pretenses as an excuse to raise the barrier to all asylum seekers.

"Since the government does not have any data to measure the risk of persecution in the applicants' home countries, the current screening process is only focused on examining whether they are here for economic reasons or not," read a statement issued by a coalition of civic groups.

Pointing out the absence of a humanitarian approach in the screening procedures, they urged the government to refrain from making unilateral assumptions that asylum seekers were abusing the system.

Lee Il, a lawyer at Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL), said that the "retrogressive" policies may negatively affect the country's reputation in the international community.

"Although Korea has been proudly representing itself since 2013 as the first country in East Asia to enact the Refugee Act, the system has been poorly operated throughout the past seven years. And now the revisions clearly show that the country is retrogressing on its refugee policies," he said.

Lee stated that the justice ministry is pushing forward revisions that failed to win support from the Korean Bar Association and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

"The government seems to be using the public's anti-refugee sentiment, triggered by the Jeju refugee crisis in 2018, as grounds to implement harsher laws against all refugees," he said.

In order to address the "fake refugee" issue, instead of a higher bar for applicants, he suggested strengthening screening from the initial stage through proper interviews. "Our refugee system is not ready to adopt all the policies of European countries that are fundamentally more open to refugees. Korea's approval rate stays slightly above 1 percent," Lee said.

He urged the government to retract the revision plan and start from square one through discussions with civic activists and the local community.

The justice ministry did not reply to The Korea Times' inquiry for its comment on the matter.