Key NHRCK Activities
■ Monitoring of refugee application procedures in Guidelines on Migrants’
Rights
the Guidelines on Migrants’ Rights. Monitoring was conducted to understand the overall
experience refugee applicants under the Refugee Act have when going through the refugee
application procedures in Korea, and use the finding to inform future policy-making.
The monitoring task force was composed of eleven experts, including activists. A standard
Part 1 Introduction
In 2021, the Commission selected “refugee application procedures” as the topic for monitoring
questionnaire was used for in-depth interviews of 26 refugee applicants from November to
December. Interviewees were selected from eleven nationalities, including Ghana, Nigeria,
Senegal, and Syria.
to procedures information, application form, letter explaining the reason why claim was rejected,
filling out of appeal form, refugee screening procedures during immigration, challenges in refugee
litigation procedures, children rights, investigation under the Immigration Control Act, fact-finding
investigation, withdrawal of claim, extension of review period, and challenges in sojourn.
In 2022, the Commission plans to conduct additional monitoring activities to understand what’s
Part 2 Key NHRCK Activities
Interview topics were specifically related to refugee application procedures, including access
going on and see if there is a need for institutional improvements.
migrant children
Recognizing the absence of policy to grant sojourn status to undocumented migrant children
who have a connection and a social foundation in the Republic of Korea, the Commission has
published books from 2020 on this matter. In 2021, it published a book on undocumented children
(author Eun Yoo); on August 4, it held a virtual book concert at a studio in Yeongdeungpo-gu
district and aired it on Youtube. The event helped raise public interest in racial discrimination,
misunderstandings and discriminatory perception of migrants, and challenges faced by migrants
and refugees.
The Commission also produced a short documentary (campaign video) on undocumented
migrant children to raise awareness about the 200,000 or so such children in Korea and highlight
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Part 3 Appendices
■ Improving perception and institutional arrangements for undocumented