Jasmine Lee, third from right, a Philippines-born naturalized Korean politician, speaks at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday, as the minor Justice Party announces its pledges on immigrants for the April 15 general election. / Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo



The minor Justice Party said, Wednesday, it would seek to set up an organization to deal with matters concerning immigrants and enact an "Immigration Law."



The pledge for the April 15 general election has come amid calls for more centralized control when implementing comprehensive policies for foreigners, as current governing bodies have been set up to oversee policies on migrant workers, marriage migrants and foreign students separately.



"The number of foreign nationals who live in Korea has reached 2.5 million, accounting for 4.9 percent of the total population. However, despite different types of foreigners, there are few legal and institutional supports for them," the party chairwoman Rep. Sim Sang-jeung said in a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul.



"Immigrants are vulnerable to blind spots where their human rights are infringed upon, multicultural families are discriminated against and domestic violence against migrant wives is rampant.



"What we have to do is to prepare to give a warm welcome to them."



According to government data, the number of foreigners residing in Korea increased nearly 7 percent last year, topping 2.5 million for the first time. Yet migrants ― particularly, those from underdeveloped countries ― are still treated unfairly and suffer various forms of discrimination.



To this end, the minor party vowed to set up a parliamentary committee to deal with issues linked to migrants and to create a relevant organization within the government.



"We are set to pave the way for migrants to smoothly settle down here by legislating a law on principles and rules for them," Sim said.



The party also said it will build a cooperative body dealing with human rights issues with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.



"Given that those from the ASEAN countries represent 37 percent of those in interracial marriages in Korea, the envisaged organization would help protect their human rights," the party said in a press statement.



According to the party, a large number of migrants are temporary or daily laborers and 47.6 percent of them are paid between 1 million ($840) won and 2 million won per month.



"We plan to help migrant wives gain vocational training, while trying to create jobs which allow them to take advantage of their language skills and cultural knowledge," it said.



Regarding domestic violence suffered by migrant wives, the party said it will enhance regulations on international marriage brokers, while granting the right to live and work in Korea to foreign women, who divorce after learning they were given false information by illegal brokers. In addition, it plans to offer gender equality education programs and free counseling and legal services for sexual assault victims.



"Today is a historic day because we announce pledges regarding migrants for the first time in the party's history," said Jasmine Lee, a Philippines-born naturalized Korean politician who is in charge of the party's committee for migrants.



"I am proud of sharing this moment as a Justice Party member and migrant because the party's pledges for migrants are about human rights unlike other parties' promises that treat them as economic tools."

