When the human rights of foreigners were violated
Fundamental measures should be taken to protect foreigners against human rights violations
Recently, it was revealed that staffs of the Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center at the Immigration and Foreigners Policy Headquarters of the Ministry of Justice violated human rights by bounding arms and legs in a 'breaking shrimp' posture and leaving the detainee in solitary confinement for a long time ('새우꺾기' is a trapping method in which arms and legs are bent backward and tied together behind the back).
According to Lawtimes Newspaper, when the case was reported in the media, the Ministry of Justice explained that it had launched a fact-finding investigation considering the seriousness of the matter. It was emphasized that the minimum measures were taken for the life and safety of the foreign detainee from damage, assault, and self-harm. The fact that the Ministry of Justice described this as a 'minimum measure for the life and safety of protected foreigners' reveals the level of awareness of the protected foreigners' human rights. Although it was pointed out in the Ministry of Justice's state examination on the 5th, the number of human rights violations received by the Immigration and Foreign Policy Headquarters at the Ministry of Justice's Human Rights Violation Report Center has more than tripled in the past four years, and the recognition rate of human rights violations is also remarkably high compared to other departments of the Ministry of Justice.
If a foreigner subject to forced eviction cannot be returned to his/her home country, facility protection (Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center) will be provided to ensure the execution of the eviction order. As there is no upper limit on the period of protection in accordance with the law, foreign nationals are in de facto indefinitely detained. Although the nature of foreigner protection in the Shelter is not for punishment but only for administrative detention, protected foreigners do not even receive procedural protection at the level of prisoners and are excluded from the application of the Person Protection Act. Also, due to the poor facilities and manpower of the shelter, the freedom of daily life of the sheltered foreigners is excessively restricted,
As the number of legal residents has increased, so was the number of illegal residents. In order to prevent human rights violations to protect foreigners, not only short-term measures such as raising awareness of human rights in the field or improvement of facilities at foreigner detention centers, but also legislative measures such as clarification of the temporary cancellation of protection and extension of the period of protection, the introduction of external examination procedures, and application of the Human Rights Protection Act, etc. should be made.
Also, in case of experiencing the infringements of human rights in detention, can foreigners file a lawsuit and be legally remedied? Can a foreigner in the detention room get help from an attorney?
To read more about Law-Win insights about the Human rights of foreigners in Korea, please check on this link.
https://lawwinglobal.com/media/blogList.php?boardid=blogs&mode=view&idx=19&sk=&sw=&offset=&category=
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At Law-Win Law Firm, we provide legal services for foreigners residing in Korea relating to immigration offenders such as:
• Objection to the forced deportation order
• Administrative litigation against the decision of Immigration Office
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