Dear friends
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS) that two Bangladesh activists, Khademul Islam Bidduth, and Jamal Ali, were forcibly deported by the South Korean’ authorities on 30 December 2003. Both of them were activists of the Equality Trade Union – Migrants’ Branch (ETU-MB). Now, they are facing prosecution by the Bangladesh government at the request of the South Korean authorities for having associated with trade unions and civil society groups while in Korea. ETU-MB is the only migrant workers’ trade union and is leading protests against the South Korean government’s brutal crackdown against undocumented migrant workers. It is estimated that since the recent crackdown began on 24 October 2003, 27,000 workers have been deported or have left the country, while 120,000 are still being hunted; Six workers have committed desperate suicides in order to evade capture, and deportation and two young workers have died of heart attacks.
Moreover, it is feared that the leadership of the ETU-MB will be the next target of the South Korean government. According to the ETU-MB, in its statement of the Ministry of Justice of South Korea, the protesters and the organization members would be arrested and detained. Your urgent action and solidarity is required to request the South Korean government to immediately stop the forced deportation of migrant workers and the oppression against activists.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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CASE DETAILS:
On 30 December 2003, Khademul Islam Bidduth and Jamal Ali were forcibly deported by the South Korean authorities to Bangladesh. Khademul Islam Bidduth, 29, was a prominent activist and part of the ETU-MB leadership, the only migrant workers’ trade union which is leading huge protests against the South Korean government’s brutal crackdown against 150,000 undocumented migrant workers. Jamal Ali, 17, was an active participant in the migrant movement. Both of them participated in the demonstration on 26 October and were arrested by the police.
After the deportation to Bangladesh, Khademul Islam Bidduth and Jamal Ali were detained until 4 January 2004. Even though they were released on bail on 4 January, they are now facing prosecution by the Bangladesh government at the request of South Korean authorities for having associated with trade unions and civil society groups while in Korea.
UPDATED INFORMATION:
Brutal crackdown of undocumented workers and trade union of migrant workers
Due to the pressure of crackdown and deportation, already six migrant workers, from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Russia, Uzbekistan, have committed suicide and two young workers have died of heart attacks since 16 November 2003.
Now the government is preparing for an assault on the only nationwide migrant labor union in the world that migrant workers have built for themselves: the Equality Trade Union – Migrants’ Branch (ETU-MB). The ETU-MB has put up a courageous fight against the government’s crackdown and in its short history it has mobilized migrant workers at a pace seen nowhere else.
For the last two months the government has been launching bi-weekly crackdown manhunts for migrant workers in their neighborhoods, factories, and in downtown shopping districts, causing many migrant workers to be in constant fear. Many have left and others have taken to the hills, literally hiding out in the mountains until the crackdown ends. Employers have also been hit with exorbitant fines, forcing them to lay off their already paid foreign workers. The ETU-MB and its supporters have been physically attacked by riot police and immigration authorities during recent demonstrations.
Whenever the ETU-MB members poked their heads out of the Myongdong Cathedral, the site of refuge where they held their sit-in, there were police ready to detain and deport them. South Korea has already made it clear that it intends to break the ETU-MB and deport its leaders. It is impossible to expect the ETU-MB to be able to advocate for undocumented workers if they under are constant intimidation and assault, as they are now. The actions of the Korean government violate the most basic dignity of migrant workers.
The demands of the ETU-MB’s sit-in struggle at Myeongdong Cathedral are for the abolishment of the ITS, the establishment of a five-year working visa, the freedom to choose their place of work, the release of all migrant workers being held in detention centers, legalization of all undocumented migrant workers, and the guarantee of the three basic labor rights stipulated by the South Korean Constitution: the rights of organization, collective bargaining and collective action. (More information is available in English at the following internet sites: http://migrant.nodong.net/ver2/index_e.html, www.base21.org, and www.labourstart.org.)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In South Korea, the Industrial Trainee System (ITS) is a common source of cheap and docile labour. This system is inherently systematic in its exploitation and abuse of migrant workers. The ITS only guarantees migrant workers a three-year legal stay in Korea, but as a trainee not a legal worker. After three years, the ‘trainees’ must go back to their country. As trainees, they have no ‘legal’ rights and bargaining power with employers; neither do they receive protection from local unions or state regulatory bodies because they are not ‘legitimate’ workers, even though they perform the same jobs as regular workers. Migrant workers are mainly employed in small factories as trainees with labour intensive production, they have to perform the so-called 3-D (dirty, dangerous and difficult) jobs with very low payment (around US$ 350 per month), long working hours and no labour rights. They are not allowed to join unions. Despite frequent industrial accidents, they are not entitled to compensation. In fact, the ITS is a kind of modern slavery. It is no wonder that migrant workers (trainees) run away from their work and become undocumented workers. Around 80 percent of all foreign workers remain in South Korea illegal migrants.
The Employment Permit System (EPS), introduced in legislation in the summer of 2003, was originally intended to replace the much-disdained ITS. However, the EPS and ITS will now run alongside each other, and there is no guarantee that the EPS could improve the condition of migrant workers in any dramatic way. The main point of EPS is that the government will control employers by applying strict standards in the allowance of hiring migrant workers, and through that, the government intends to improve working environment for migrant workers.
According to the new EPS, migrant workers residing in South Korea for more then 4 years – the majority of migrants – have to leave the country without any possibility of coming back. With the recent crackdown, those migrants who are deported will be replaced by ‘workers’, who in four years’ time will also become illegal, causing the government, migrant workers and Korean society to face the same problems they face today. The problems are cyclical.
Abolish the ‘ITS’ and revoke the ‘EPS’!
For a long time, under the notorious ITS, the South Korean government has denied migrant workers’ rights and failed to provide a legal frame for migrant workers. There is no doubt that the South Korean government must abolish the ITS immediately in accordance with international standards.
Moreover, the new EPS, which enforces ruthless crackdowns and deportation on the migrant workers, clearly violates the right to protection from retroactivity, guaranteed by Article 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which South Korea is a state party. Article 15 of ICCPR states, “No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time when the criminal offence was committed. If, subsequent to the commission of the offence, provision is made by law for the imposition of the lighter penalty, the offender shall benefit thereby.” Therefore, the ETS should be revoked, as it is in violation of the principle of non-retroactivity. The Korean government should make new legal standards for migrant workers in full accordance with international laws and standards.
Besides, the South Korean government’s oppression of migrant workers’ trade union violates their right to association guaranteed by Artice 3 and Artice 22 of the ICCPR. Especially, Article 22(3) of the ICCPR states, “Nothing in this article shall authorize States Parties to the International Labour Organisation Convention of 1948 concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize to take legislative measures which would prejudice, or to apply the law in such a manner as to prejudice, the guarantees provided for in that Convention.”
Furthermore, the United Nations Convention on Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families speaks of the “protection of migrants against arbitrary arrest and detention, and that migrants shall not be subjected to measures of collective expulsion with cases being examined and decided individually.” Therefore, the deportation of Khademul Islam Bidduth and Jamal Ali clearly violates this convention.
In light of the above, the AHRC strongly urges the South Korean government to immediately stop the deportation and crackdown on the migrant workers and oppression against ETU-MB activists. Also, the AHRC requests the South Korean government to abolish the Industrial Trainee System and to revoke the Employment Permit System, which violates the migrant workers’ rights. The South Korean government must create proper protection for migrant workers in full accordance with international standards and laws.
SUGGESTIED ACTION:
Send a letter, fax or e-mail to the South Korean government and express your concern for this serious case. After writing a protest letter, please post it on the free message board on http://migrant.nodong.net/ver2/index_e.html, the ETU-MB’s website, or email at polaroidsea@yahoo.com
1. Mr. Roh Moo-hyun
President
1 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu
Seoul 110-820,
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Tel: +822 770-0018
Fax: +822 770-0347 or 770-0001 / +822 770-2579 (for appeal)
E-mail: president@cwd.go.kr or president@president.go.kr
2. Ms. Kang Kum-sil
Minister of Justice
1 Jungang-ro, Gwachon-si,
Gyonggi Province, 427-760
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Fax: +822 504 3337 / +822 503 7046 (HR Department)
E-mail: jk.kim@moj.go.kr or kskang7@moj.go.kr
3. Mr. Kwon Ki Hong
Minister of Labor
1 Jungang-ro, Gwacheon-si,
Gyonggi Province, 427-760
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Tel: +82 2 2110 2114
Fax: +82 2 6494 6494
4. Chang-kook Kim
President
National Human Rights Commission of Korea
16 Euljiro 1-ga, Jung-gu
Seoul 100 842
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Tel: +82 2 2125 9700
Fax: +82 2 2125 9811 / 9666
E-mail: nhrc@humanrights.go.kr
5. Mr Y. Nodera
Regional Director
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
United Nations Building, 11th Floor
Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, P.O. Box 2-349
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: 66 2 288 1710, 288 1755 (Regional Director)
Tel: 66 2 288 1712, 288 1785 (Deputy Regional Director)
Fax: 66 2 288 3056 (direct), 288 3062
e-mail: bangkok@ilobkk.or.th
6. Ms. Gabriela Rodriguez Pizarro
Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10,
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9000
Fax: + 41 22 917 9011
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear
Re: Two deported Bangladesh activists face prosecution in Bangladesh and the migrant workers’ trade union is targeted by the Korean government
I am writing to you in grave concern at the recent deportation of two Bangladesh activists for the migrant worker’s movement, Khademul Islam Bidduth, and Jamal Ali, active members of ETU-MB (Equality Trade Union – Migrants’ Branch) by the South Korean authorities on 30 December 2003.
According to the information I have received, after the deportation to Bangladesh, Khademul Islam Bidduth and Jamal Ali are facing prosecution by the Bangladesh government for having associated with trade unions and civil society groups while in Korea. It is just one example that illustrates what the undocumented migrant workers will face after their forced deportation.
The South Korean government has conducted a huge crackdown and deportation on undocumented migrant workers since 16 November 2003. It is estimated that over 150,000 undocumented workers, residing in South Korea for more than 4 years – majority of migrants – would be cynically excluded by the Korean authorities. Already 27,000 workers have been deported or have left the country, while 120,000 are still being hunted; Six workers have committed suicides in order to evade capture and deportation, and two young workers have died of heart attack. I have also been heard the news that thousands of migrant workers are now staging a protest throughout the nation against the government’s crackdown on the migrant workers.
The United Nations Convention on Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families speaks of the “protection of migrants against arbitrary arrest and detention, and that migrants shall not be subjected to measures of collective expulsion with cases being examined and decided individually.” Therefore, the deportation of Khademul Islam Bidduth, and Jamal Ali clearly violates this convention. However, the South Korean government is targeting the leadership of the ETU-MB to defeat the workers’ activities.
In light of above, I strongly urge the South Korean government to request the Bangladesh authorities not to prosecute Khademul Islam Bidduth and Jamal Ali, and provide proper compensation to the victims according to international law. I also urge the South Korean government, especially Ministry of Justice to immediately stop the ruthless crackdown and deportation of ‘undocumented’ migrant workers and oppression against ETU-MB activists, which is guaranteed by Article 22(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). I also request the South Korean government to abolish the Industrial Trainee System and to revoke the Employment Permit System, and install proper legal protection for migrant workers in full accordance with international standards and laws. I further urge the South Korean government to legalize all undocumented migrant workers and fully ensure their labour rights by law.
Truly yours,
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
