Office but the number of refugee screening personnel was only 22, with more
than 290 refugee applicants per person.
46.
Despite the response of the Ministry of Justice that it developed
professional interpreting system for refuges with 173 professional
interpreters in 24 languages as of June 201810, lack of interpreters and quality
in the refugee screening process have been raised issues. Recently, an
interpreter and immigration official have falsely wrote an interview report,
and the court ruled cancellation of non-recognition of refugee status11.
47.
As an administrative appeal to non-recognition of refugee status, a
formal objection is regulated which is reviewed by the Refugee Committee
under the Ministry of Justice. However, the head of the committee is deputy
minister of the Justice and the ratio of public official is high, which threatens
“Independent, fair and impartial” principle of appeal review. In addition, the
appeal is currently reviewed by the Refugee Committee, which is comprised
of 15 members, and the committee was held six times in 2017, dealing with
total 4,542 applicants. The number of cases handled in a review is 750 cases
on average, and the heavy workload has led to a documentary review of the
applicants without having an interview.
48.
The “Refugee Act” does not prescribe maximum duration for
immigration detention and the immigration detention of minors in
immigration detention facilities. Therefore, if the refugee screening process
is delayed, the detention period may be extended indefinitely and the
infringement of right to education of minors is also concerned in this process.
Questions
10 http://www.index.go.kr/potal/main/EachDtlPageDetail.do?idx_cd=2820
11 Seoul Administrative Court Decision 2017Gudan4294 Decided October 12, 2017, Seoul High Court
Decision 2017Nu47245 Decided June 27, 2018
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