Last month, a 29-year-old Thai man who was working in Korea illegally was found unconscious in the mountains near a factory in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, after a crackdown by immigration authorities.



Video footage shows a gray van stopping in front of the factory. As officers get out of the van, migrant workers shout, “Officers are here for a crackdown,” and then scramble to escape.





A funeral being held for a Thai man, who was found unconscious near his workplace after a crackdown by immigration officers, in Thailand, Oct. 3-4. (Gimhae Migrant Human Rights Center)



The Thai man was found some 100 meters away from the factory and was transferred to a hospital, but died. The cause of his death was severe damage to his internal organs. With an investigation into his death still underway, he is believed to have died as he attempted to flee.



In the operation, eight unregistered migrants -- three from Thailand, four from China and one from Vietnam – were apprehended.



The tragic incident is only the latest case of migrants who were injured or even killed during crackdowns by immigration officers.



Activists accuse the immigration authorities of abusing their authority and violating the undocumented migrants’ human rights.



More fundamentally, however, they say the country’s immigration policy, which they see as inducing a surge of undocumented migrants, must be fixed.





Crackdown on unregistered migrants



Activists see the Thai man’s death as a result of excessive force.



“When migrant workers are chased, they panic and start to run around in factories where machines are still running and there are many dangerous objects,” said Kim Kyung-mi, an interpreter who has helped four Chinese nationals captured during the crackdown.



“Those caught along with the deceased Thai man were shaken by the crackdown as they feel they could have faced a similar situation. They said they were too afraid to leave their home for days,” said the activist from Gimhae Migrant Human Rights Center. “It is inhumane.”





A mountain where the Thai man was found unconscious near his workplace (Gimhae Migrant Human Rights Center)