Refugees, adoptees call for more tolerance in Korea

People portrayed in the documentary "Belonging" speak during a preview event organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Seoul office at The Plaza Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min

By Jung Da-min

A sense of belonging is often taken for granted by many people. But for those who are adopted by families from other countries or who have been forced to leave their homeland due to war or other political reasons, becoming refugees, a sense of belonging becomes something that needs to be acquired. The process of acquiring a new sense of belonging in a new country is highly challenging mainly due to prejudice and discrimination they can face, which often stems from their different looks or religions.

To tell stories of those seeking to acquire this new sense of belonging, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation in the Republic of Korea has presented a documentary film, "Belonging." The UNHCR's Seoul office held a preview event for the film at The Plaza Seoul, Monday.

Directed by Paul Wu, who has been making films on the theme of refugees in collaboration with the UNHCR in recent years, the documentary features Syrian refugee aid group leader Abdul Wahab Al Mohammad Agha, the first Syrian to come to Korea as an international student and now a naturalized Korean citizen; Swedish screenwriter Soni Jorgensen and photography director Jacob Jorgensen, a sister and elder brother who were adopted from Korea; and Egyptian husband and wife human rights activists Musab Dariwh and Sara Darwish who have settled in Korea as refugees.

Abdul Wahab said all of Korean culture, including the language and food, was a challenge for him but he tried really hard to learn and adopt to Korean life over the past 12 years since he first came here. As a Ph.D. candidate of law at Dongguk University, he is also working as general director of Help Syria, a voluntary coalition of Koreans concerned about Syrian refugees founded in 2013.

"When I first came to Korea I was not a refugee but with the political situation in Syria getting worse, people here started to see me in a different way, treating me as a refugee. Some expressed a groundless fear ― a phobia against refugees. There was also a time I got invited as a lecturer to an event and then suddenly they told me not to come after asking my religion and I said I'm a Muslim,'" he said. He also said many Koreans often generalize over misconduct by some Syrians here, when they are just a small number of about 1,500 Syrians here. "I wish people would see me as just a human, as just Abdul Wahab, not as a Syrian, and not caring about what religion I have."

For the Darwish couple who fled political persecution in Egypt where activities for rights and religious freedom of the people are banned under the law, Korea offered a safe haven where they could continue to work as human rights activists. They came to Korea in 2016 and were recognized as refugees in 2018.

People featured in the documentary "Belonging" speak during a preview event organized by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) Seoul office at The Plaza Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Seoul office

The activist couple said they feel safe here and they want to contribute to Korean society by sharing their knowledge regarding human rights. But they said Korean society has yet to find a better way to live with migrants although it has started such efforts. Their daughter was born here, but she cannot get citizenship, nor that of Egypt as her parents are refugees in Korea. They hope that conditions will change so that their daughter can make her own decision regarding her citizenship in the future.

"My daughter speaks Korean as her native language and she feels sad when people speak to her in a different language. But nothing can change our feeling toward this country, because we want to belong to this country. My daughter does not belong to Korea in terms of the law but in a broader sense, she belongs to Korea," her father said.

For Soni and Jacob Jorgensen, whose Korean names were Han Soon-hee and Han Il-woo, they looked different as the only Asians in a Swedish village they grew up in with a Danish father and German mother who adopted them. The young Koreans suffered bullying not just from their peers at schools but were also exposed to verbal and physical violence from their adoptive mother who they described as controlling and dominating.

"The goal in my life was to become like a Swede with blue eyes and blond hair," Jacob said. Soni also said she tried to look the same as other Swedish girls in her schooldays but felt frustrated whenever she looked in a mirror. She said she suffered mockery from some prejudiced people who said all Asian women were sexually promiscuous.

"When I am asked where I am from, I say Gotland. Then they keep asking where I am originally from until I say Korea, which reminds me that I do not belong here," Soni said, adding she visited Korea when she was 20 to see if her birth parents or relatives were alive. Soni even put an advertisement in The Korea Times but failed to hear back from anyone. After such a struggle to find her own identity, she no longer tries to find a "certain identity" but has instead found inner peace from "belonging to planet earth," an idea which gives her the sense of freedom.

The people featured in the documentary also said it is often their looks or religion that brings about a discriminatory reaction from people in different countries. In other words, the level of tolerance in a society determines the level of diversity it can nurture. Korea in this sense has a long way to go, they said.

The poster for the documentary, "Belonging," which tells the stories of people seeking a sense of belonging after leaving their homelands for different reasons. / Courtesy of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Seoul office

Political discussions are currently underway to establish a law banning all kinds of discrimination based on gender, disability, age, country of origin and religion among others, mainly pushed by the minor opposition progressive Justice Party.

But the country's two major parties, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the main opposition People Power Party, are hesitant to establish such a law. Behind this hesitation is the next presidential election slated for March, as they do not want to risk losing the support and votes from some "conservative" religious groups or other organizations which claim that such a law threatens freedom of religion and expression in the name of equality.

But the need for debate in Korea on whether to accept more refugees here and guarantee more rights for them legally, such as through an anti-discrimination law, is growing following the influx of refugees in recent years including some from Afghanistan this year, and others from Yemen in 2018.

"As we watch the film together, we will see the reasons why people have to leave their country, for being persecuted, for conflicts, or for those who were adopted and have to leave their country and go to another country at such a young age," said James Lynch, South Korea's representative to the UNHCR, delivering opening remarks for the preview event.

"Although each person tells a different story, they are all in a life-long journey to find a sense of belonging. The number of displaced persons around the world has reached 82.4 million. This means that one percent of humanity is displaced, and the ultimate dream of these refugees is to return to a home where they feel welcomed and truly belong."

Director Wu said he believes the documentary can touch and resonate with many people because "we're all in some kind of journey to find belonging," adding everyone has the same humanity no matter what countries they are from, and thus deserve the same kind of rights.