A South Korean court ruled Thursday in favor of nine Syrian asylum seekers who had been denied entry into the country to apply for the status. They stayed at an airport for the past six months awaiting the decision.

The Incheon Administrative Court ordered the Justice Ministry to allow the asylum seekers to apply for refugee status in the country, saying depriving applicants of the chance to claim asylum should only be made in exceptional cases.

A total of 28 Syrian asylum seekers filed a lawsuit against the Justice Ministry to fight the immigration office’s rejection. The first 19 asylum seekers won the rights to enter the country last Friday.

The Justice Ministry had cited that the Syrians had no clear reason to seek asylum in the country and that they flew to Korea via what it saw as safe countries, such as China or Turkey.

But refugee rights activists here accused the immigration office of abusing its authority to bar asylum seekers without fair reasons.

From July 2013 to 2015, 119 people out of 393 seeking asylum at the port of entry were not referred to the refugee determination procedures, according to data obtained by refugee rights groups.

With the court proceedings now underway, the Syrians have stayed at a facility in the international transit zone, which is designed only for short-term stays, since they separately arrived at the Incheon International Airport beginning in late November.

Under the Refugee Act that came into force in 2013, all asylum seekers are allowed to apply for refugee status at a port of entry, unlike in the past when those arriving without a legitimate visa were simply repatriated to their countries of origin.

The immigration office has up to seven days to decide whether to refer asylum seekers to the legal refugee application procedures. The Refugee Act stipulates the immigration office’s authority to deny entry of asylum applicants who come from countries without fear of persecution, submitted forged documents or has clear intention to abuse the system.

Asylum seekers who are denied entrance need to either return to their home countries or fight the immigration office’s decision while living in the deportation room.

The Justice Ministry, for its part, has claimed it needs to prescreen refugee applicants to distinguish between genuine refugees and economic migrants abusing the refugee system to extend their stay and earn money by acquiring a legitimate work permit.

“It is difficult to process refugee applications because there is a growing number of applications who apply for refugee status only to extend their stay after illegally staying in Korea,” Ha Yong-gook, an official from the Justice Ministry said at a forum on the Refugee Act held at Sangmyung University on Thursday.

Hosted by the Justice Ministry and UNHCR, the forum was held to mark three years since the Refugee Act took effect.

“As the act does not limit the number of refugee applications per person and it allows them to stay in the country during the process, it has been abused to give migrants chances to get a job and extend their stay.”

According to the Justice Ministry, 42 percent of the 5,611 asylum seekers in 2015 applied for refugee status after illegally staying in the country, while 9 percent did so right before their Employment Permit System visa expired and 6 percent did so after facing deportation.

Since South Korea started receiving refugee applications in 1994, it has accepted 503 cases out of a total of 15,250 asylum applications, putting the refugee acceptance rate at 3.7 percent.

According to testimonies of asylum seekers staying long-term at the airport, the deportation rooms have no beds or windows, with only one shower each for men and women. They are served three meals a day -- a burger and canned drink.

They are allegedly allowed to go for a walk occasionally through the duty-free store. Some of the long-term residents reportedly had fallen ill due to sleep deprivation, poor quality of food and sanitary conditions.

“Once asylum seekers are refused, it takes four to six months to fight the decision at court. When the government makes an appeal, it takes even longer,” said Lee-il, a human rights lawyer for Advocate for Public Interest Law. “Even when the court rules in favor of the deportees, it takes months until they are allowed into the country. They then need to wait for several years until the court decides whether they are entitled to refugee status.”

“Given the reality that the immigration office’s rejection of asylum seekers’ entry results in long-term detainment and human rights violation, the Refugee Act should work to at least give refugee applicants opportunities to go through a legal process.”

Judge Kim Seong-soo from the Seoul Central District Court in the forum pointed to the legal limbo faced by the asylum seekers. 

“By law, the immigration office refuses to accept (what it deems are unsuitable) refugee applicants into the country. But the rejection does not lead to deportations, which leaves those denied to stay at the deportation room long-term,” the judge said.  

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)