S O U T H K O R E A
Gloom Rises as Crackdown Continues
by Ahn Mi Young
SEOUL — Chiran Tharaka killed himself by jumping off a subway platform onto the tracks just as a train came into a station near the South Korean capital. "He was in deep anguish," his friend Sanbat, also from Sri Lanka, recounted.
In tears after the 31-year-old Tharak's suicide on Nov. 12, Sanbat said: "He told me he could not leave South Korea, as he had almost no money to bring back home."
Tharaka is one of about 100,000 migrant workers in South Korea who faced the threat of being expelled just before a nationwide crackdown that Seoul launched in mid-November.
Tharaka arrived in search of his Korean dream in January 1996. For the past four years, he worked at a tent-manufacturing factory in Gwangju east of Seoul. By November, his colleagues — three South Koreans and four other migrant workers — were mourning his death.
What the former cricketer Tharaka left behind, in his room, spoke volumes about his priorities in South Korea — dozens of telephone cards that he would use to talk to his family in Sri Lanka, letters from his mother and siblings — and his salary envelope.
"I was proud of Tharaka, as he was such a good and diligent young man," said his employer Kim Jae-Shik, 44. "He was a good son, sending about 670 U.S. dollars out of his earned money of 850 dollars a month. He was under extreme stress out of fear of the upcoming crackdown," he added.
The South Korean government's crackdown aims to send home migrant workers, most of them from Asian countries, who have overstayed the three or four-year validity of their visa. Undocumented workers were given until Nov. 15 to leave South Korea.
But activists here say that crackdowns do not address the core issues around migration for work and the demand by South Korean businesses for labour that locals shun.
"The government must stop trying to crack down and expel these long-staying migrant workers," said Kim Hae-Sung, a pastor who runs a non-government support group for migrants near Seoul.
Indeed, 'Tharaka must be the last victim' was a black mourning placard that local activists have been carrying lately.
"If a migrant worker has stayed here for four years or longer like Tharaka, he is, in most cases, a skillful, diligent worker — without whom South Korean employers see no way of keeping their factories operating," Kim explained.
At the same time, activists concede that the environment for migrant workers has improved in recent years in a country that for many years considered itself a closed labour market — but allowed in foreign 'trainees' that were paid low salaries and poor benefits, if any.
The government of South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun, seen as pro-labour, has granted migrant workers "legal status". Under a law expected to be in place by August 2004, these workers would be covered by industrial accident insurance, wage benefits and severance payments.
But before the law takes effect, Seoul would like to limit these benefits to those who are working in the country legally. During the registration period for migrant workers that expired on Oct. 31, a total of 188, 034 or 83 percent of the total official estimate of 227,000 migrant workers, have signed up to renew their status before immigration authorities.
But long-staying migrant workers say that the registration system does not adequately cover their needs, or recognise the fact that they have been in the country for a long time, although they may not have the proper papers.
If a migrant worker has worked in the country for four years or longer, he has to voluntarily leave by Nov. 15 — but there is no guarantee that he or she will be let back into the country although officially, the government has promised to let them in after a passage of one month.
This is why each day, 1,000 gloomy workers from countries like China, Thailand, and the Philippines stand in queue in front of immigration desks at the Inchon International Airport, preparing to leave South Korea.
"I wish I could stay longer here, but I am forced to leave," signed a migrant worker from China at the airport.
Most of those leaving have been here for three or four years — and non-government groups estimate that there some 65,000 workers have been staying that long in the country.
"I am leaving, as the government promised to let me back (into South Korea), but I hesitated a lot (before I reported to the authorities), as I wonder whether the government would keep this promise," said Sajide, 26, from Pakistan.
Others — NGOs say up to 100,000 or more — have decided to go underground instead of leaving South Korea.
Already, the effects of the crackdown can be readily seen. Only weeks ago, hustle and bustle marked the Ansan industrial complex, where a lot of Asian workers were seen chatting, having meals or drinks after work. But no longer.
"Many of them have left to hide," said a real estate agent. "These foreign workers told me they will come back when the environment becomes 'warm' (safer)."
"I've told them to hide and come back when the crackdown loses steam," added an employer who has an automotive parts factory. "Migrant workers are no longer foreigners but our much-needed workers who have worked diligently for our factories, where few of South Koreans would care to do so."
One of every 100 workers at workplaces in South Korea is a migrant worker. According to labour ministry figures in South Korea, more than 60,000 come from China, followed by Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. The overwhelming majority work in manufacturing, followed by construction and the services sector.
Given the extent to which they rely on foreign workers, some companies like the Poong Lim Industrial Co Ltd, a South Korean construction firm, has invested in giving full benefits to its Thai migrant workers, who make up 188 out of its 300-member workforce.
These Thai workers have the same benefits — medical insurance, overtime and holiday pay — as their South Korean counterparts. Each Thai worker lives in a dormitory, where there are Thai television programmes, a gym, and Thai food.
But this kind of treatment has yet to be a norm among South Korean companies
"There is of course a little friction among workers due to cultural differences. But migrant workers are co-workers of South Koreans as major players to bring our company onto a prosperous track," said Park Byung-Han, who supervises the workers. (END/Copyright IPS)
