Shelter for S. Korea’s foreign workers in dire need of help

A Christian pastor who has been working nearly 30 years to help unprotected migrant workers said he is in dire need of support after a fire devastated his migrant workers’ shelter.

The Global Sarang center in Garibong, southwestern Seoul, was partially destroyed when a fire broke out in the building’s entrance hall on Tuesday night, injuring at least 10 people and causing an estimated $186,000 worth of damage.

Pastor Kim Hae-sung admitted he does not have insurance on the migrant center he has operated for more than 10 years.

“We couldn’t afford to have fire insurance. We’ve been struggling to get by to help sick and starving foreign workers,” the 52-year-old told The Korea Herald.

There has always been a long queue of people outside the center waiting to receive free meals during lunch time. But the free-meal service is on hold indefinitely as the fire completely destroyed the center’s cafeteria on the first floor.

The fire damage also put a halt to free medical service and legal counseling to hundreds of migrant workers each week, according to Kim.

More worrying is that, he said, the 10 injured people are all undocumented foreign workers, with no insurance to cover their medical bills.

“Although they were injured in arson, but they, all ethnic Koreans born in China, are not protected the current law,” Kim said.

“Also, without electricity and water supply now more than 50 foreign workers lost their home, now we don’t when we can reopen our center.”

The fire reportedly started around 11 p.m. on Tuesday at the building’s entrance hall when a stack of books caught fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. But police say the closed-circuit television footage shows a man identified as a Korean-Chinese worker who came to the center a week ago, set fire to piles of paper.

The 45-year-old, surnamed Kim, injured his head as he jumped from the open widow from the fourth-floor to escape from the smoke filled building, and is in now critical condition, according to the police.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)