Anglican reverend becomes "father" to migrant workers

By Ham Joo-young
NAMYANGJU, South Korea, Aug.20 (Yonhap) -- Rami, a Nepalese migrant who had been
working for a small furniture manufacturer here, was diagnosed with liver cancer
in 2007. The illness had entered its final stage and there was no hope of a
cure.

Unable to afford the cost of returning to his home country, Rami had little
choice but to await his own death until an Anglican priest approached with 10
million won(about 8,000 U.S. dollars).
Known locally as "father," Reverend Lee Jung-ho works to aid the many migrant
workers that toil in the cluster of furniture manufacturers that populate this
city in Gyeongi Province, some 27km from Seoul.
The Anglican reverend, director of the "House of Shalom," a shelter for migrant
workers, began working for the protection of migrant workers' rights in
Namyangju in 1990. He is preparing to mark the 20th anniversary of his work.
Initially a leper colony isolated from the world around it when Lee was first
named rector of Namyangju Anglican Church in 1990, the community quickly
transformed as small furniture manufacturers seeking lower land fees crowded into
the area, known as the "Masok Seongsaeng complex."
Looking to cut manufacturing costs, businesses there began to hire migrant
workers to the point where their numbers once reached some 3000 in the Masok
complex alone. Now with frequent crackdown of the authorities against
undocumented migrant workers, the number shrinked to around 700.
With their growing numbers, however, came increasing rates of abuse by employers,
prompting the reverend to advocate for the protection of migrant workers' rights
in the work place.
"There were some who criticized my work, saying I should stop trying to protect
migrant workers' rights because most were violating Korea's immigration and
employment laws," said Rev. Lee.
Negative stereotypes of migrant workers among many in South Korea has contributed
to difficulties in promoting their basic human rights, with many insisting they
are in the country illegally.
"They are human beings, just as we are, though most Koreans still have a hard
time accepting that," Lee said.
He says that when he sought permission from local authorities to build a new
welfare center for migrant workers in the city of Seongnam, 28km south of Seoul,
his request was denied because officials said local residents would not approve
of such facilities in their neighborhood.
"Can you imagine how it feels to be treated as a potential criminal or like
someone with an infectious disease? What would they tell their families and
friends about Korea," said Lee. He argued that such biased attitudes would do
more harm than good to South Korea's national image in the international
community.
"Many Koreans insist that the government should take bold action to address the
problem of illegal migrant workers, but I'm sure that under the current
employment permit system launched in 2004, the number of non-registered migrant
workers who stay here without proper documents will increase."
Last Monday was the fifth anniversary of the launch of the employment permit
system. Under the system, alien workers cannot arbitrarily change jobs, as only
employers can cancel their contracts, which last for a maximum of one year.
Because of these shortcomings, Lee said, the system has produced many
undocumented migrant workers.
Recalling a massive crackdown on migrant workers on Nov.12 last year, which led
to the deportation of more than a hundred non-registered workers from Namyangju
to their home countries, he stressed that forcible deportation was not best way
to eradicate the problem.
"Since the Nov. 12 crackdown, it has become really hard to see workers around
the neighborhood. They are hiding for fear that they might get caught by the
authorities and deported," said the reverend.
"I'd like to suggest that the government give those non-registered migrant
workers a second chance to come back to Korea later. Now, once they have been
deported, they are not allowed to come back. If the authorities allow them to
return after a certain period of time, they will be encouraged to voluntarily go
back to their homeland and wait for another chance to come back to work in
Korea."
"In order to stay balanced on the thorny issue of illegal migrant workers, we
should try to see both sides of it. They have on occasion caused trouble in
Korean society, but we should not forget that they have made a significant
contribution to Korea's economic growth over the last two decades."
The reverend, who says he plans to retire somewhere in Southeast Asia to live
with his "sons," said that now is the time for Korean society to deliberate on
how best to deal with a `multi-cultural' and `diverse' Korea where many foreign
cultures exist alongside traditional Korean culture.
With rarely a moment to spare as he stays busy seeking financial support from
the local government, private companies or individual donors, he said that he
has never regretted dedicating himself to protecting the human rights of migrant
workers.
"I'm so happy when I hear from some of the migrant workers who went back to
their countries that they are making a good living there by using skills they
learned in Korea."
mypyco@yna.co.kr
(END)