Afghan evacuees to spend two months in Jincheon

Afghans who worked for the Korean government and their families wave from a bus upon their arrival at the Leadership Campus of the National Human Resources Development Institute in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, Friday. They will stay at the temporary shelter for about two months. Yonhap

13 remaining evacuees arrive in Seoul

By Kwon Mee-yoo

With the arrival of 13 remaining Afghan evacuees in Korea, Friday, all 390 Afghans who worked with Korea, as well as their families, will stay at a temporary shelter here for about two months while they prepare for settlement after fleeing from the Taliban which took over their homeland.

The Korean government vowed to support their settlement here, with changes to immigration rules to allow for their long-term stay as well as education on Korea's culture and society.

The first group of 377 evacuees landed at the Incheon International Airport, Thursday, and the second group of 13 followed Friday. The groups were split up due to the capacity of Korean military planes deployed to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The foreign affairs ministry corrected the number of the first group from 378 to 377, saying after the evacuees were moved from Kabul to Islamabad, they found one unidentified person on the list and sent the person back to Kabul on a military aircraft and where they were handed over to the U.S. military in charge of identity checks.

The evacuated Afghans had worked closely there with the Korean government for years, including the Korean Embassy, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Bagram Korean Hospital, the Korean Vocational Training Center and a provincial reconstruction team in Charikar. Most of them are professionals such as doctors, nurses, translators, lecturers and IT specialists.

Forty-six percent of the evacuees are under 10 years old, including some 100 toddlers and infants. Three are newborns born in August. To accommodate the needs of the babies, the evacuation team brought baby formula for the airlift mission, and the Justice Ministry offered the children plush dolls at Incheon airport as gifts.

After landing at Incheon airport, Thursday, the Afghans were tested for COVID-19 and spent a night at a quarantine facility, before being transported to the Leadership Campus of the National Human Resources Development Institute in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, Friday, where they will stay temporarily for about two months.

According to the Ministry of Justice, 360 tested negative and 17 were not clear, but transferred to the center together as they have shown no symptoms and will be tested again soon.

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Vice Justice Minister Kang Sung-kook greets the Afghan evacuees at the Leadership Campus of the National Human Resources Development Institute in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, Friday. Yonhap

"These people worked for Korea in Afghanistan and we ask for Koreans to support them in adapting to life in Korea," Vice Justice Minister Kang Sung-kook said during a press briefing at the temporary shelter.

They will go through the two-week COVID-19 quarantine and stay there for about six more weeks while getting ready for settlement in Korea.

According to the justice ministry, Saturday, four Afghan evacuees, including two kids, have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The justice ministry stationed some 40 administrative staffers as well as a medical team and a security team at the center to ensure safety of the evacuees. There also is an interpreter and the ministry plans to designate additional interpreters among the evacuees who can speak Korean.

Since there are many children among the evacuees, the ministry plans to run a temporary nursery in the center after the two-week quarantine.

"The center is not for families, so there is a lack of childcare facilities. We will try to provide at least portable childcare facilities during their stay," Kang added.

The government will provide Halal meals, reflecting the Afghans' religion.

The ministry plans to provide various programs to help them adapt to life in Korea, including courses on Korean language, culture and law. Aid for their settlement, including living expenses and housing support, will be discussed with relevant authorities.

After released from the center, the Afghans can live anywhere in Korea and the ministry will support them to find the right place.

However, it is unclear whether all of the evacuated Afghans will settle in Korea permanently.

"We have prepared a temporary shelter for them as they just arrived in Korea. We did not collect their future plans on places of residence yet," Kang said. "Some of them can speak Korean as they worked with the Korean government in Afghanistan and we expect them to adapt to Korea well."

Residents of Jincheon put up banners welcoming the Afghans in three languages ― Korean, English and Arabic, but some of them were taken down due to protest by some residents who were against housing the refugees.

The center was previously designated as the place of quarantine for Koreans who evacuated from Wuhan, China, in January 2020 in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.