gettyimagesbank

Many children of undocumented immigrants who are born in or brought to Korea as babies have little physical or emotional connection to the birth country of their parents. They speak Korean as their first language, eat and think just like their Korean peers.

And yet the pathway to obtaining the right to permanently stay here, let alone to citizenship, is full of challenges. The most difficult part comes when they reach the age of 19. They have to attend college because, without a degree, they can't find jobs — and, therefore, can't stay here — and they have to do so without their parents, who immediately lose the right to stay here when their children reach that age under the current system.

In a collective report released on Monday's forum at the National Assembly, experts urged the government to introduce a new system specifically designed for such people to acquire permanent residency without having to go through a challenging, complicated process.

“It is very difficult for such children to graduate from college without financial support from their parents … Thus, parents should be allowed to live with their children here for a certain period after the age of 19, or the children should be given the right to work so that they can live independently,” Kim Sa-gang, research fellow at Migration and Human Rights Institute, a Busan-based nongovernmental organization, said.

Unlike their Korean peers, such students have limited access to scholarships, bank loans and part-time jobs. Even if they attain their university degrees despite all those difficulties, their status remains vulnerable, without any guaranteed pathway to securing the right to stay in Korea indefinitely, she said.

Amid calls from rights activists to protect such children, the Ministry of Justice introduced a protection program for them in 2021. According to its data, nearly 1,000 children have been granted the right to stay here under the system since.

Though it was a commendable step necessary to protect their human rights, experts pointed out that it apparently failed to bring all such children out of the shadows. They believe there are thousands more who remain unregistered.

The reasons vary among each individual. According to research by experts, some don't have the documents required to apply for the program, while others don't have the money they need to pay fines.

Kim Sa-gang, research fellow at Migration and Human Rights Institute, a Busan-based NGO, said during a forum at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of National Human Rights Commission of Korea

Experts said one of the most fundamental problems with the current system is that it seems to be designed to screen out candidates, rather than embrace more of them.

“If you only resolve residency issues for people who meet multiple criteria, there would be a blind spot or two,” Park Esther, a school inspector at Seoul Multicultural Education Support Center, said.

To fix that fundamental problem, the government needs to view such young children from a new perspective, Park Hye-kyung, an inspector at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, said.

“Undocumented migrant children, who were brought to Korea against their will, have been educated, and grew up here just as Korean children would,” she said.

At a time when the government is increasing investment to draw overseas students and workers, it needs to see such children as future members of society, she said. “They don't need language training. They don't need education about life in Korea,” she added.