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[Press Conference]
Against the Social Integration Programme by the Ministry of Justice of ROK
<Source: Korea Women Migrant HR Center>
On April 14, 2008, about 90 Korean NGOs working for migrants' human rights held a press conference advocating overall revision of the Social Integration Programme to be implemented by the Ministry of Justice of ROK. ARENA also joined the conference as one member of Network of Marriage Migrant Groups in Korea. In the public statement, we demanded that 1) the Ministry of Justice do an overall revision of the mandatory Social Integration Programme which is being instituted as one of the preconditions for marriage migrants to acquire nationality, and 2) an alternative programme should replace the Social Integration Programme in order to give support with gender-sensitive and multi-cultural principles.
According to the programme proposed by the Ministry of Justice, marriage migrants who want to acquire Korean nationality should attend maximum 230 hours of class with not more than three hours a week. It means that it would take about 17 months without any break for marriage migrants to meet the condition for Korean nationality before fulfilling other conditions for acquiring the new nationality. Obviously this is an unrealistic project that lacks consideration of specific situations faced by marriage migrants in Korea. There is government statistics from 2005 showing that 68.1% of marriage migrants have to earn their livelihood since their husbands are often economically marginalized. Also, most of them soon become pregnant and have to raise their children after they enter Korea. The proposed programme requires, if the woman becomes pregnant and be absent for some period, she should take the course again.
What is urgent to work together is to enhance the human rights of marriage migrants and foster social learning toward creating cultural diversity in Korea with respect to the dignity and identities of marriage migrants. Such efforts should be undertaken by the Korean government, society, and marriage migrants alike. In the proposed programme, however, the Ministry of Justice unilaterally imposes the obligation only on the part of the marriage migrants.
<Source: KWMHRC> In the press conference, members of Suwon Women' Hot Line presented performance showing the suffering and burdens imposed on marriage migrants in Korea. It revealed very well how unrealistic the plan is.
 <Source: KWMHRC>
Also, Kim, Hongmae, one marriage migrant from China, shared her opinion based on her own experiences in Korea about how this programme would make other marriage migrants suffer.
This year, a Vietnamese migrant woman who faced constant abuses from her Korean husband killed herself in Korea. She was even confined to her house, and could not go outside during her stay in Korea. It shows the possibility that this mandatory system may block many migrants, whose husbands would not allow them to take classes, from getting Korean nationality. The propose programme, therefore, has a danger of restricting marriage migrants' access to legal rights and putting them into a more vulnerable position. At the same time, a marriage migrant from the Philippines, who has Korean nationality, was nominated to a proportionate representative candidate for the National Assembly by a newly established party. This is the first time for such a case in Korea. She did not win the seat in the National Assembly because her party did not get enough votes, but she did show the possibility of access to formal politics despite being a marriage migrant. In addition, many marriage migrants have initiated and facilitated a variety of social networks in the last few years. In support and respect of such initiatives, we will continue empower women to let their collective voices heard, and fight against this oppressive government initiative. |
