| Family members of Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities in their country arrive at Incheon International Airport, Thursday. A total of 377 Afghans, out of 390 to be airlifted, arrived in South Korea on Thursday as part of Seoul's efforts to evacuate locals who worked at Korea's embassy and other government facilities in the war-torn nation, as well as their families. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Public sentiment not much changed since 2018 Yemenis' asylum seeking on Jeju
By Jung Da-min
The crisis in Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. military withdrawal has stirred debate in Korea as to whether the country should take in Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover and grant them refugee status.
On Aug. 24, the Korean government announced that it has sent three military transport planes to the Middle Eastern region to evacuate Afghans who had helped the Korean government's activities there. Those who worked at organizations run by the Korean government such as the embassy, hospitals or vocal training centers and their family members had were afraid for their lives under the Taliban due to their cooperation with the Korean government.
Although the government brought 390 such people to the country as "persons with special merit" and is seeking to revise an enforcement ordinance on immigration to grant them long-term stay permits, fears and ill feelings toward them have risen here. The Afghan crisis has also stirred a further debate over whether Korea should accept other fleeing Afghans as refugees, with political parties and citizens showing different responses to the matter.
| Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities in their country line up to board a military aircraft at Kabul airport, as part of the operation to evacuate them to Korea amid growing fears of possible Taliban retaliation against those who have aided the United States and its allies, in this photo released Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
The progressive minor opposition Justice Party is so far the only political party to have said Korea should actively seek ways to help other Afghan evacuees by accepting them as refugees. But the country's two major parties, the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition conservative People Power Party (PPP), have said a more cautious approach is needed on the matter of opening the door for refugees.
Likewise, public opinion is also divided. While those who oppose accepting refugees cite fear of crime or the economic burden as reasons, those who support the idea say such concerns over refugees are based on misinformation or wrong beliefs.
| A South Korean diplomat looks for Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities in their country to get them on a military aircraft at Kabul airport, as part of Korea's operations to evacuate them to Korea, in this photo released Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
Three years ago, a similar debate surfaced after 561 Yemenis seeking asylum from a civil war in their home country landed on Jeju Island in the summer of 2018, with the number of Yemenis on the island surging from 52 in 2017 and 10 in 2016.
Although the number of Yemenis who applied for refugee status in 2018 stood at 484, only accounting for 0.03 percent of the total 16,173 asylum seekers here, media reports of the possibility of more Yemenis arriving on Jeju brought about a backlash against refugees and asylum seekers in the country.
Recent surveys on perceptions of refugees showed Koreans still have negative sentiments against refugees.
In a survey by Embrain Public in May, 59.5 percent of 1,000 respondents said they believe crime rates in major European countries rose after an influx of refugees around 2015. But according to statistics of Eurostat, the number of crimes such as murder or robbery in 27 European countries dropped by 30 percent to 34 percent in 2018 compared to 2012.
| Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities in their country board a military aircraft at Kabul airport, as part of Korea's operations to evacuate them to Korea, in this photo released Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
In another survey conducted by Hankook Research on 1,016 Korean adults at the request of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in late November 2020, 53 percent of the respondents were against the country receiving and protecting refugees, compared to 33 percent who were in favor.
For reasons given in opposition, 64 percent cited the financial burden to the country; 57 percent, concerns over crimes; 49 percent said they were just coming here to find jobs; and 46 percent cited differences in culture and religion, when multiple answers were allowed.
The negative sentiment against refugees among Koreans is reflected in the country's low rate of granting refugee status.
| A direction sign for the reception desk for refugee applications is seen at the entrance of Seoul Immigration Office in Yangcheon District, Wednesday. Yonhap |
According to an analysis by local civil organization NANCEN Refugee Rights Center based on data from the Ministry of Justice, the percentage of those granted refugee status stood at 0.4 percent in 2020, or only 52 out of 11,892 who completed the authorities' review process to determine refugee status.
The percentage remained the same from the previous year and was much lower than the figures in the European Union in 2020, which stood at 32 percent, according to the European Asylum Support Office.
| A Korean diplomat with the Korean Embassy in Afghanistan, rights, hugs an Afghan national who had worked at the embassy, during Korea's operation to evacuate Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities there, in this photo released Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs |