Discriminatory Acts23 in Immigration
Year
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
100
89
128
83
111
18
18
10
8
5
Classification
Human
Rights
Discriminati
on
167. The cases for which the NHRCK has issued recommendation include human
rights violation of foreign nationals by the government authority usually
related to their status of stay, i.e., compulsory eviction and crackdown. There
are also cases where commercial facilities run discriminatory practice against
foreigners; for example, denial of access to restaurants, denial of treatment in a
doctor's office, or rejection of insurance policy underwriting citing her period
of stay in Korea as for marriage immigrants.
168. There was a recent incident where a Myanmarese worker died in the process of
crackdown by the Ministry of Justice. The NHRCK has decided to launch ex
officio investigation on October 4, 2018 in order to investigate whether the
ministry complied with lawful procedures and abided by human rights rules
and regulations in the process and took timely measures to take care of the
injured. It will also charter measures to turn the current immigration policy
more human rights friendly as it focused on undocumented migrants’
crackdown and deportation.
169. In order to enhance its independence, the prerequisite to achieve its mission,
the NHRCK established the Regulations on Selection and Appointment of
Members of the NHRCK in December 2014 and revised the National Human
Rights Commission of Korea Act in February 2016 to include a new article
ensuring diversity in its members and independence.
170. As pointed out by the Committee, the NHRCK requires more human rights
experts and ample financial resources in order to facilitate the rights
prescribed in the Convention and fulfill its mission. The NHRCK will
continue to actively pursue its missions including investigation into
23 Related to “state of origin, ethnic origin, race, and skin color” among the grounds of discrimination,
defined by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea Act
37