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| Family members of Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities in Afghanistan are aboard a Korea Air Force C-130 airlift plane as they wait to depart Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday. Courtesy of Air Force |
Gov't to revise immigration law to give long-term stay permits to evacuees
By Nam Hyun-woo
The Korean government still has a number of follow-up measures to handle, amid the arrival of 390 Afghans who have been evacuated from their Taliban-controlled homeland, as Korea's legal and social systems are still in an infant stage in terms of being able to deal with international evacuees and refugees fleeing from conflicts.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, a military aircraft carrying 378 Afghan evacuees landed at Incheon International Airport. The evacuees were among 391 Afghans and their family members included on the list of people evacuated by the Korean government in recognition of their service to the Korean government's activities there. The remaining 13 are expected to arrive in Korea aboard other military aircraft soon.
The evacuees entered Korea under the status of "people of special merit," rather than as refugees. A senior official at Cheong Wa Dae said that the designation is "a special way of granting a period of stay so as to provide immediate protection to the evacuees, given the time normally required to grant them refugee status."
The Ministry of Justice said that it will revise an enforcement ordinance of the Immigration Act, in order to grant F-2 long-term residency visas to the Afghan evacuees as "people of special merit," because there are no legal grounds currently to give them long-term stay visas. The evacuees received C-3 short-term stay visas first and will get F-1 visas to permit their long-term stays, followed by F-2 visas, which will allow long-term stay and employment, after the revision which may take place as soon as Oct. 5. Until then, the ministry will collect public opinions on the issue.
However, controversy is rising over the fairness of this measure, because the status of "people of special merit" offers greater benefits than refugee status.
"The evacuees have contributed to the Korean government, so they will get greater care than refugees in terms of living costs, subsidies for settlement and education," Justice Minister Park Beom-kye told reporters upon welcoming the evacuees at the airport.
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| Justice Minister Park Beom-kye, second from left, speaks during a press conference on Afghan evacuees' legal status at Incheon International Airport, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
According to the Immigration Act, those who are seeking permanent residency in Korea should meet requirements such as the ability to make their living economically, a level of Korean language fluency and an understanding of Korean history and culture. When it comes to people who have provided distinguished service to Korea, however, the justice minister can waive those requirements.
Such a waiver from the justice ministry means that the evacuees from Afghanistan can apply for permanent residency in Korea without meeting those requirements, which is a relatively easier process, compared to Korea's complicated screening processes for those who are seeking refugee status here.
Globally, Korea is one of the toughest countries for accepting refugees. According to data from the Ministry of Justice, Korea admitted just 28 people ― or 0.5 percent ― out of the 5,370 refugee claims it reviewed from January to July of this year. This figure was the lowest since the country established a refugee screening system in 1994. Yearly rates have also been declining, from 3.6 percent in 2018 to 1.6 percent in 2019 and 1.1 percent last year.
"Depending on how you interpret it, the status can be seen as a form of preferential treatment for Afghan evacuees," a Seoul-based lawyer said on condition of anonymity.
Aside from the legal status of their period of stay, the evacuees' settlement in Korea is also clouded with uncertainty. After their arrival, the evacuees were transferred to the National Human Resources Development Institute in Jincheon County, North Chungcheong Province, where they are expected to stay for six weeks.
It remains unclear whether the Korean government will provide further economic assistance for them. The government operates a program for lending home deposits for two years to help refugees settle here, but it is only available to those who hold refugee status.
Domestic banks do technically offer loans and services to residents of foreign nationality here, but whether they actually do depends largely on the type of visa they hold.
"Among those who arrived in Korea on Thursday, many have liquefied all of their assets in Afghanistan, such as selling their homes," Sohn Moon-jun, former chief of the Korean hospital at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, who played pivotal role in the Korean government's evacuation operation, told The Korea Times. "It is uncertain how they will make their living here after being evacuated."
It is anticipated that getting jobs here will be tough for them as well.
"There are few cases of those residing here on humanitarian grounds signing proper employment contracts, due to employers' lack of understanding of their situation and the existing labor market conditions here," a 2019 report by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea said.
As of last year, Korea's state budget related to refugee policies remained at 2.46 billion won ($2.1 million), which accounts for 0.0005 percent of the government's total budget of 513.5 trillion won.
