The Discrimination Remedy Department of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) held the first meeting of the Special Committee for Foreigners on July 4. The Department appointed eight persons as professional commissioners of the Committee including Hyun-woong Ko, Director of the Korea Office of the International Organization for Migration (“IMO”), Won-jung Suk of Representative of the Group for Human Rights of Foreign Migration Workers and Ra-mi So, a lawyer of Sympathy, Lawyers’ Group for Public Good, etc.
The term of the commissioners of the Committee will be two years, from July 4, 2006 through July 3, 2008, and the Committee will deal with major pending issues relating to cases where foreigners were involved. At the first meeting of the Special Committee for Foreigners, the status of the reception and proceedings of complaints involving foreigners and survey results of the human rights situation in South Korea since the launch of the NHRCK up to now were reported and also there were discussions on the major pending issues of the cases under investigation.
The complaint cases relating to foreigners focused on issues relating to emigration and immigration, such as visa issuance and deportation and the crackdowns on and arrest of unregistered migrant workers. Major issues of the cases under investigation were discussed, such as whether the taking of illegal aliens who voluntarily visit police stations to request remedy of human rights violations, to the immigration office by the police in accordance with notification obligation stipulated in the Clause 1 of the Article 84 of the Immigration Control Act is within the scope of the legitimate duty of the police. Other cases discussed included whether exceptional provisions should be provided for in the law if there are no defaults on the part of the relevant alien workers who entered Korea on the basis of the work permit system in accordance with Article 25 of the Employment of Migration Workers Act, and do not get jobs within 2 months after change of workplace and therefore become subject to deportation.
