[Election 2017] Will lives of asylum seekers, migrant workers be improved under new president?

Whichever candidate wins the upcoming presidential election, South Korea is likely to ease up on its tough refugee policy. When it comes to migrant workers, however, leading candidates diverge on what to do.

According to Amnesty International’s Korea office, the five mainstream party-backed candidates have all promised some “progress” in asylum seeker policy, vowing to prevent human rights violations and improve the refugee status determination system.

The global rights watchdog has asked each of the camps to stake out their stances on four key issues or demands: whether or not they will push to limit the detainment of asylum seekers; guarantee those detained get access to defense rights; guarantee them medical services; and reform the overall management of refuge affairs to better protect refugee rights and be more responsive.

Front-runner Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea said he would “fully” push for all four suggestions. “I will actively consider overhauling the refugee system in general and assigning more personnel and budget to live up to Korea’s standing on the world stage,” he said.

Sim Sang-jeung of the far-left Justice Party and Hong Joon-pyo of the far-right Liberty Korea Party also pledged full support.

“We will make the situation for asylum seekers and refugees up to international standards,” Hong said.

Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party, polling second behind Moon, promised to guarantee detained refugee applicants access to defense rights and medical services, but was reserved on fully accepting the other two demands.

Yoo Seong-min of the minor conservative Bareun Party, while vowing broad humanitarian support for them, said, “Given the hostile inter-Korea relations and global terrorism, there could be some restrictions (in protecting their rights.)”

South Korea has seen a rapid rise in the number of refugee applicants in recent years, from 423 in 2010 to 7,542 last year, government data showed.

The country, however, has been criticized not only for being tardy and strict in granting refugee status to the applicants, but for infringing their basic rights, forcing them to live in “prison-like” conditions at the airport’s deportation room or detention centers for years while their case is under review.

“Candidates’ attitudes toward asylum seeker issues in general seem to be good, although I wonder whether they will be willing to deliver on the promises as the public sentiment toward refugees is growing negative here,” said Hwang Pill-kyu from the Gonggam Human Rights Law Foundation.

“But whoever is elected, it will be difficult to ignore the refugee rights issue anymore.”

On the issue of migrant workers, the candidates differed on their stances.

Only two -- Moon and Sim -- vowed to revise the current Employment Permit System, first introduced in 2004 to fill factory jobs shunned by locals with unskilled workers from cheap-labor countries.

While Ahn and Yoo “partially” agreed on amending the system, far-right Hong opposed it, calling for more “control” on migrant workers to protect jobs for locals.

Under the scheme, migrant workers are banned from changing their workplaces without their employers’ agreement, which activists say puts them at a disadvantage and at risk of rights abuses. The government claims the restriction is necessary to make sure the import of labor reaches where local supply is short and that the system is not to give out working visas, but only to invite those who are hired by employers here.

Shekh al-Mamun, a Bangladeshi official from the nation’s first migrant workers’ union, said he expects no major improvements for migrant workers, whoever is elected.

“During the previous government, the policy on migrant workers went backwards,” he said, citing a stepped-up crackdown on unregistered migrant workers to hunt down potential terrorists at the height of fear over terrorism around the globe.

“The candidates don’t have any pledge for us in their manifesto,” he said. “But I still hope that it amends the act to protect labor rights for the migrants who are supporting the local economy from the bottom."

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)