Jeju Island Refugee Crisis in South Korea

In June 2018, 561 Yemenis arrived at Jeju Island of South Korea, fleeing from a civil war in Yemen between the Yemeni government forces and Shia Houthi rebels. As of June 2018, 549 Yemenis have applied for refugee status in Korea. Though there have been refugees coming into Korea, this case of Yemeni refugees became an issue as, though unofficial, it is an influx of the largest number of refugees of low cultural similarity for the shortest period of time.

Background

Situation in Yemen

Since 2015, there has been a violent crash between the Yemeni government forces and Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen. Two million Yemenis who became refugees tried to flee to nearby countries in Middle East but were not accepted. Some of them fled to Malaysia where they could temporarily stay for 90 days and 20,000 Yemeni refugees have been granted refugee status. The remaining refugees entered into Korea's Jeju Island where they could enter and stay up to 30 days without entry visa. The Korean Ministry of Justice and the province of Jeju have suspended no-visa entry of Yemeni citizens since June 1, 2018.

Why did they choose Korea?

Korea adopted the UN Refugee Convention in 1992 and enacted the Refugee Act in 2012 for the first time in Asia. However, the approval rate of refugee status in Korea is 3% which is significantly low compared to the global average of 38%. Nevertheless, Korea has the most open and independent Refugee Act in East Asia. Refugees can stay in Korea however long while their application for refugee status is in process.

Actions

The Korean government restricted the residency of the Yemeni refugees to Jeju Island as the government judged that its current infrastructure and budget are too limited and the society of Korea is yet hostile to receive a number of Muslim refugees. Meanwhile, although refugees are usually not allowed to work until refugee status is granted, the province of Jeju decided to provide the Yemeni refugees with work permits and jobs so they can afford themselves aside from KRW 432,900 per month - $510.56 in Canadian dollar - they are receiving from the Korean government, and Jeju as well can provide labour in farming and fishing industries where labour is insufficient.

Objections

An online petition on the repealing of the Refugee Act and no-visa entry, and the revising of the criteria on refugee applications has received over 700,000 signatures. The Blue House has to respond to petitions with over 20,000 signatures, but it has not yet responded.

In addition, over 700 people have participated in a protest held on June 30, 2018 in Seoul to ask for an amendment on the Refugee Act as well as the protection of the safety of the Korean citizens from Muslim refugees. Many of them ask why the Yemeni refugees bothered to come a small country far away from their home, and argue Korea is lack of resources to receive refugees. They argue that the Yemeni refugees are not real refugees because most of them are male and they have expensive items such as iPhones. Also, it is argued that the refugees refused the jobs to which they were placed because it was too hard. However, the refugees are mostly male because it is men who are at risk of being drafted to military and wars. Also, refugees are, by definition, those who fled from home for not just economic hardships but more importantly political and social threats. Thus, though people in low socio-economic status (SES) are more likely to become refugees due to their intersectionality of being in low SES and living in a life-threatening situation, it is not reasonable to believe that refugees should not possess any expensive items if they are real refugees.

Further, the protestors argue that, as the only divided nation on earth at the moment, Korea already has enough threat on national security, so having a large influx of refugees will further threaten the national safety. Since there are relatively few Muslim populations in Korea, cultural differences are considered as another barrier for both Yemeni refugees and Koreans.

In addition, a news media, OhMyNews, which published an editorial titled "You Have No Right or Freedom to Discriminate Against Yemenis," which was against the major public opinion, has received a great deal of criticism.

Xenophobia and Islamophobia in Korea

According to 2011 and 2015 studies conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family of Korea, respondents were asked if they think the crime rates increase as the number of foreign workers increases. While 36.5% of respondents agreed in 2011, 48.6% agreed in 2015. On the question of whether foreign workers take away the jobs of Korean citizens, 30.2% said yes in 2011 while the percentage increased to 34.6% in 2015.

Some historians argue that the origins of xenophobia in Korea might stem from Korea having been invaded by neighbouring nations nearly 1,000 times in its history, which created vague fear and otherness against foreigners.

The European refugee crisis played a large role in unfavourable views on Muslim refugees in Korea being escalated to the current level. Developed western European countries like Germany have failed in integrating refugees and, due to the failure of European multiculturalism policies, there are many refugees who have not successfully transitioned to the new culture, resulting in practices against humanity such as honour killing being continued at some places and anti-Islamic sentiments being instigated as a result, creating a vicious cycle of hatred.

Such xenophobia and Islamophobia endanger the lives of many foreign workers and few immigrants and refugees in Korea. Problematically enough, however, this excludes Whites in Korea and only applies to those from Third World, developing countries. The crimes committed by visible minorities receive more media attention where they are described as dangerous and harmful at times.