Seoul to shorten screening period for foreign asylum seekers

SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government is planning to speed up
its screening process for foreign asylum seekers and improve their living
conditions here amid a growing influx of political and religious refugees, the
Justice Ministry said Friday.
The ministry said the government will introduce a so-called "fast track" system
in a bid to halve the screening period for foreign applicants seeking refugee
status to less than one year by the end of 2009.
The government aims to reduce the period to six months by the end of 2010 by
sharply expanding immigration staff responsible for screening documents submitted
by foreign asylum seekers, it noted.
It also plans to set up a foreign refugee support center designed to meet the
basic living necessities of asylum seekers, said the ministry, adding the center
will also offer medical services, vocational training and education in the Korean
language.
"Any asylum seekers who are forced to wait for longer than one year before being
given a verdict will be allowed to have jobs in South Korea," said the ministry
in a press release.
In the press statement, the ministry noted that the Korean government has
recently granted refugee status to nine foreigners, including a former air force
pilot from an African country, raising the total number of recipients to 116.
"Since South Korea joined the U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
in 1992, 2,323 foreigners have sought refugee status in South Korea, with 116 of
them given the permit," said statement.
"An additional 72 applicants have been allowed to stay in South Korea for
humanitarian reasons, though their applications were rejected."
Under the United Nations refugee convention, people who "have a well-founded fear
of being persecuted" at home are recognized as official refugees. A signatory
nation should not expel or deport asylum seekers given refugee status.
brk@yna.co.kr
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