 |
| Muhamad Abozaid testifies on his experience with the refugee screening process at Incheon Airport during a press conference in front of the National Human Rights Commission, Seoul, Thursday. / Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon |
By Lee Suh-yoon
Refugee rights groups rallied in front of the National Human Rights Commission building in Seoul on World Refugee Day, Thursday, denouncing airport authorities for harassing and deporting asylum seekers instead of guaranteeing them a fair and proper review of their applications.
NANCEN and other rights groups have compiled evidence of around 10 such violations taking place at Incheon International Airport sent to them by asylum seekers who were denied entry when they were trying to apply for refugee status.
 |
| Ahmed Mohamed, right, an asylum seeker from Egypt who was rejected entry in July last year, is handcuffed and confined to a room at Incheon International Airport. He claimed airport employees handcuffed and assaulted him after he protested their plans to deport him to the United Arab Emirates. He was later allowed to leave for Turkey instead after his case generated an international outcry. / Courtesy of NANCEN |
"We demanded an explanation as to why airport the authorities deported asylum seekers after their legal appeals were filed and faxed to them," Ma Han-eol, a lawyer working with the Korea Refugee Rights Network, said after Thursday's rally. "But they would make excuses such as the asylum seekers were aboard the plane before they got the fax or chose to leave on their own."
Those who managed to get back in touch with the NGO groups from abroad told harrowing tales of being beaten and handcuffed ― sometimes even aboard the planes they were deported on.
"It wasn't just one or two cases. Similar testimony started piling up and we became suspicious that this violent repatriation process was a systematic practice," Ma said. "Even police officers have very strict rules for using force. It's as if the airport was a lawless zone."
Korea started screening asylum seekers at the airport in 2013, providing a separate entry channel upon arrival for those declaring themselves asylum seekers or who were denied other entry visas. Those who simply enter the country with a tourist visa can apply for asylum status without going through this preliminary screening process.
In May last year, the Constitutional Court ruled it was unconstitutional for asylum seekers detained at airports to be denied access to a lawyer.
The review process takes up to seven days, during which airport immigration authorities decide whether the applicant's case is valid enough to be given an entry visa, allowing them to apply for refugee status while residing in Korea. In 2018, only 46.7 percent of those who applied for asylum seeking status at international airports were allowed in, according to justice ministry data.
If rejected, the asylum seekers must promptly file an appeal with help from human rights lawyers or they are deported. The small number of people who get this second chance often have difficulty supporting themselves.
Mohamad Abozaid, a 23-year-old student from Egypt, arrived at Incheon airport in April last year. He had to live in the airport for around 20 days without any help from the authorities, as he was rejected in the first review after the immigration office "accidentally" deemed court documents regarding his political persecution to be fake. They later corrected this mistake and approved his application.
"I had no blankets, clothes, food or a proper place to sleep," Abozaid told reporters at the rally. "Airport employees kept pressuring me to get on a plane."
Last year, 394 people applied for asylum seeking entry at Incheon airport and 118 at Jeju International Airport.
![[INTERVIEW] Hip-hop group Uptown returns after 13 years with new lineup](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/0eae35da5e9c40c38cf439e550a2eb3e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] ASTRO members aim to shine in musical theater](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/df16760dc50f469d93434f66a069465c.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
