Envoys pledge to support foreign workers’ rights in Korea


Diplomats in Seoul have called on the South Korean government to sign an international pact to protect foreigners working here, and are planning a large-scale migrant workers’ rally for next year.

A group of diplomats met at an event organized by the International Conference on Foreigners Welfare in Seoul to mark the international day for migrant workers on Dec. 18.

They pledged to mark next year’s International Migrant’s Day on a large scale for the first time in Seoul. Organizers will seek to hold a parade in the city center before staging a discussion program at Seoul Plaza.

Speaking at the event, charge d’ affaires at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Seoul, Syed Nasir Ershad, called for Korea to ratify the UN’s International Migrant Convention to protect foreign workers and their families from exploitation.

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families came into force in July 2003 but many developed countries where large numbers of migrants work have yet to sign the pact to protect their basic rights.

“Forty-five countries have signed the convention on the rights of migrants and their families and we would request that South Korea sign the national convention too,” said Ershad.

He said that the total number of migrants globally would constitute the fifth-most populous country in the world if taken together. Global revenues created by migrants jumped from $132 million in 2000 to $440 million in 2010, and they are believed to be significantly larger when unofficial labor is taken into account. 

Ershad also told The Korea Herald that while the 11,500 Bangladeshi workers in Korea were generally happy with working conditions here, some had faced difficulties concerning pay. 

"The migration cost is low and the living and working conditions are improved, and the salary is also good in Korea," he said, adding that many Bangladeshi's saw Korea as an attractive place to come to work. 

However, he said there was also room for improvement for migrant workers here.
“Sometimes they don’t get their salaries on time. We have had complaints about people not getting paid for 3-4 months and on some rare occasions they are deprived totally of their wages.

“In one case the Korean employer and Korean workers just left the business and the migrant workers did not get paid.”

He said some foreign workers had also faced physical abuse from employers but that the Korean government had taken moves against such practices this year.

His embassy also held a separate event to recognize the work of Bangladeshi migrants in Korea last week.

Also speaking last week, Nguyen Hai Nam, labor counselor at the Vietnam embassy in Seoul, said: “If we look at the working conditions of our workers in Korea I can say that for the manufacturing sector most of our workers are satisfied with the salary and their conditions.

“But for agriculture and aquaculture some of our workers have a problem with their salary and accommodations.

“We receive a lot of complaints from our workers and the Korean government should pay much attention to these issues.”

Nam also called on the Korean government to mark International Migrant’s Day in future, as is already done in Vietnam. There are about 64,000 Vietnamese workers in Korea.

ICFW Chairman Shin Kwang-yul held the dinner meeting to mark this year’s International Migrants Day with labor attaches and first secretaries from the Seoul embassies of Bangladesh, the Philippines, Peru, Vietnam, Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia and the Kyrgyz Republic.

“Government officials don’t have much experience of migrant policy,” he told the group, explaining that the number of migrant workers in Korea had dramatically increased to around 2 million people in recent years.

“The 2012 International Migrants Day will be a very good chance to know each other. My opinion is that we can be exchanging opinions and experiences. We can come together to make up that policy that we can post everywhere. It will be very helpful.”

Raja Ram Bartaula, deputy chief of mission at the Nepali embassy, whose country has 1 million people working abroad, said host countries should appreciate their migrant workers.

“They are supporting the national development of where they are working these are important topics worth celebrating,” he said.

The representative of the Kyrgyz Republic said that of his country’s 5.5 million people, half a million were working abroad, adding: “We should hope to protect these people’s rights. We should discuss what the problems are for migrants here in South Korea and what are the means to protect them. We should discuss what are their rights.”

And Cambodian counselor Nguon Socheath said: “In Korea we have 10,000 workers here. We would like to express our deep appreciation for the Korean government’s promotion of a multicultural society.”

By Kirsty Taylor  (kirstyt@heraldcorp.com)