SEOUL: Fleeing oppression at home, Aung Myint Swe had high hopes he would be warmly welcomed as an asylum seeker in South Korea, which like his native Myanmar had suffered decades of repression under military dictatorship.
The 46-year-old had watched admiringly as South Korea blossomed into a democracy in the 1970s and 1980s while he was active in uprisings against the Myanmar military regime, supporting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
But his experience has not been what he had hoped: After waiting four years to be granted asylum in 2003, he is still struggling to get by. He gets no government assistance and cannot find work other than harsh manual labour.
“I can’t bring my family over here ... because my own survival is precarious,” said Swe, who added his wife and two children remain under the watchful eye of the military regime in Myanmar.
Despite his disappointment, Swe is among the lucky ones, one of just 48 refugees from countries other than North Korea who have been officially recognised here since South Korea joined the UN refugee convention in 1992.
Under South Korea’s constitution, North Koreans are regarded as citizens of the South, and Seoul has welcomed some 8,500 North Korean defectors. But the situation for other refugees is drastically different.
It was not until 2001 that South Korea granted asylum to its first non-Korean refugee, and it has denied 229 asylum applications. Still awaiting a decision are 445 other refugees, while 94 have withdrawn their requests and 35 were allowed three-month stays on humanitarian grounds but not granted refugee status. Fifty-three others are appealing rejections.
For defectors from the North, the government provides support for career education, housing and some 10 million won (US$10,500) in settlement aid per person along with three months of assimilation training.
There is no such help for other refugees, who are banned from working until they are granted asylum, forcing them to struggle for their survival.
“There are no other ways for refuge-seekers to support themselves except to steal or work illegally,” said Hwang Pil-gyu, a lawyer who helps refugees seek asylum.
Many do illegal work in factories or manual jobs, often facing harsh working conditions. Newspapers and broadcasters have reported many cases of foreign workers being abused by Korean employers or colleagues — such as being cheated of wages or forced to work in dangerous conditions.
A justice ministry official who deals with refugee matters, Kong Jon-haeng, said the government was ‘putting a lot of effort’ into the refugee situation. But he added the government was concerned about economic migrants from impoverished nations seeking asylum status. Some 180,000 illegal foreigners are believed to reside in South Korea, according to the justice ministry.
Some refugees argue that worries about economic migrants were simply an excuse not to acknowledge legitimate asylum seekers.
“It’s not like the South Korean government doesn’t know what’s happening around the world, such blatant human rights violations in countries like Burma,” said the refugee Swe.
“I have no intention to stay in Korea for economic reasons,” he said. “What I hope to achieve here is to bring about democracy in my country,” he added. Unable to find other work, Swe runs the Korean branch of the Myanmar opposition party with donations from fellow countrymen and shares a single room with two others.
Activists accuse the government of failing to address the needs of asylum seekers who don’t know about the social system here and don’t speak Korean, saying asylum decisions are often made with insufficient communication.
Lawyer Hwang Pil-gyu noted the government doesn’t provide interpreters to asylum seekers and added: “How can a person who barely speaks simple language get across such a complicated situation as being a refugee?”
South Korea’s asylum system was called ‘rudimentary’ by the UN refugee agency. “Some aspects of the current system do not yet meet the international standards ... necessary to effective refugee protection,” such as a lack of translators, Janice Lynn Marshall of the UN refugee office in South Korea said in an e-mail.
Critics also say an independent body is needed for hearing asylum appeals. Now the justice ministry both grants asylum and hears appeals.
Lee Ho-taek of the refugee assistance agency Pnan, which means refugee in Korean, called South Korea’s refugee policies ‘dismal’.
“Refuge-seekers are caught in a dilemma: whether to live in despicable conditions here or face a life-and-death situation in their homelands,” said Lee.
A political refugee from Bangladesh who called himself Ronel Chakma — not his full name — said a government official had barely looked at his application before deciding he didn’t deserve asylum.
“After a quick glimpse of the application papers, the official sent us away,” he said, adding he didn’t want his full name used for fear of reprisals against relatives at home.
Chakma, 38, came to South Korea as a tourist in 1994, staying illegally off-and-on until he was granted asylum in 2004, two years after applying. He said he chose South Korea for its democracy and relatively high level of security.
He works at a furniture factory in a Seoul suburb with his wife, has opened an office to support his fellow countrymen seeking asylum.
Chakma said a brother at home recently told him Bangladeshi government agents were still tracking his whereabouts. He said South Korea was the best place to stay for now — especially for his seven-year-old son who just started school — though conditions could be improved for those fleeing oppressive regimes at home.
“I wish there was some tangible support for refugees like myself,” he said.—AP
