The brutal assault against a Chinese undocumented woman migrant worker in Daejon, South Korea by authorities is an omen of even more vicious acts to come against undocumented migrants. We condemn the brutality of the arrest as well as call to stop the crackdown on undocumented migrant workers in South Korea.
This was declared today by Ramon Bultron, managing director of the Hong Kong-based Asian Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) as the video of the arrest of a Chinese undocumented woman migrant caught by a local media outlet Joongdo Ilbo spreads in the internet, prompting severe criticisms from migrants and workers organizations in various countries. The video showed the woman grabbed on the neck by the immigration police even after she has already been taken inside the van.
Such incidence is a preview of harsher things to come for it shows how the Korean government has treated undocumented migrants in the past and how it will likely treat undocumented migrants in the near future as the global financial crisis hits Asian countries, he added.
South Korea hosts an estimated 230,000 undocumented migrant workers from different countries such as China, Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal. Despite the implementation of the Employment Permit System in 2007 that tried to encourage undocumented foreign workers to register, the basic harsh labour condition of migrants that forces many to become undocumented workers has remained unchanged.
Bultron said that South Korea has been notorious for committing gross human rights violations against undocumented migrant workers during crackdown operations. He warned that such violations will likely occur again and again as the South Korean government always turns its attention to undocumented migrants especially during crisis situations.
Instead of addressing the roots causes why migrants run away and become undocumented migrants, the government continues to sanction anti-labor policies and practices including low wages and poor working conditions. Undocumented migrants are very much part of the productive workforce in Korea and deserve to be legalized and accorded the proper labour rights, he remarked.
Bultron also called on to the governments of countries where migrants in Korea come from to immediately take action to protect their workers from harsh actions by Korean authorities.
Undocumented workers be they in Korea, Malaysia, Japan or countries in Europe are facing the serious threat of getting arrested, detained and deported as policies after policies are instituted to tighten border control. In these trying times, migrant workers, including undocumented migrants, need urgent protection and not arrest and criminalization, he concluded.
Ramon Bultron
Managing Director
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)
apmm@hknet.com
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