Evaluation of Beijing +10

on Women Migrants in Korea

Rev. Han, kuk-yom

(President of Women Migrants Humanrights Center)

(Joint Work of Women Migrants Humanrights Center,

Humanrights Solidaruty for Women & Migrants in Korea,

Saewoomtuh for Prostituted Women)

1. Introduction

Beijing Platform for Action, adopted the articles related to migrants women, such as "The Platform for Action recognizes that women face barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors as their race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability" as article 46, and "The past decade has also witnessed a growing recognition of the distinct interests and concerns of indigenous women, whose identity, cultural traditions and forms of social organization enhance and strengthen the communities in which they live. Indigenous women often face barriers both as women and as members of indigenous communities." as article 32. These articles are equal to 'International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families, ILO convention.

In Korea, migrants women who left their home for 'women in poverty' or 'poverty in women' are becoming worse in the process of globalization and stay in this country are increasing. And their pain is more than migrant male workers in the area of working, trafficking, and international marriage because they are women from poor country.

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action related to migrants divided into 5 areas that are Women and Poverty, Education and Training of Women, Violence against Women, Women and Economy, Human Rights of Women.

By valuating the performing items of Beijing Platform for Action, the international law related to migrant workers, destitute, refugee inclusively, but this report will examine the 3 types - women migrant workers, international marriage, trafficked migrant women.

2. Women Migrant Workers in the Production Fields

A. Present Situation

The women migrant workers in Korea is 37.3% of the total migrant workers in Korea andthe number is in steady increase. The women migrant workers in Korea work in three major fields: production, sexual industry and service industry.

Women from South-East Asia and Mongol work in the production field, Filipinos and women from ex-Soviet Union work in the sexual industry and Chinese Koreans in the restaurants, tea houses, and accommodations fields.

Women migrant workers have experienced not only lower payments compared to those of male migrant workers but also human rights infringements including sexual harassments and rapes, producing social problems.

Moreover, the absence of women's monthly leave and the heavy workload even after pregnant and miscarriages have testified the absence of protection systems for women's rights and mothers' rights. In order to clarify and amend the problems, the importance of the problems of the women migrant workers have emerged since in the circles of the migrant workers's service organizations and international conferences.

1) Poverty and Economic Problems

According to the report published in 2002 on the current situation of women migrant workers in Korea by Joint Committee for Migrants Workers in Korea(JCMK), 53.4% of the surveyed lived in the rental accomodations and around 50% of them lived in small places of 2 meters by 3 meters.

74% of the surveyed said that they are illegal immigrants, 54.5% of them worked in Seoul, 54.3% in factories, 33.0% in the fabric industries.

38.2% of the surveyed said that their weekly work hours are between 67-88 hours and 49.2% of them said that they have 4 days off a week. 70.7% of them said their monthly payments are between 530,000-1,000,000 Won, two third of those for male migrant workers.

30.2% said that they work many hours while 27.4% said that poor working environments, 19.1% for vocational disease, 9.2% industrial disease, 21.5% delayed payments, 29.9% low payments are problems concerning their work conditions. 15.1% said their relations with Korean workers cause problems while 22.2% said that their conflicts with their supervisors cause problems. 39.5% said that passports/visas while 9.7% for their broker's fee’s, 38.3% potential report threats on their illegal residence.

Regarding their pregnant experience in Korea, 29.1% said that they didn't get any regular check-ups during their pregnancy, 57.7% said they couldn't ask for transfers into easier works, 66.7% said that they couldn't do that because they had to hide their pregnancy. 56.3% of the surveyed women migrant workers said that they have experienced miscarriages in Korea, 40.0% of them said that they enjoyed days - off less than a week. 61.6% said that they had hard times at work after their miscarriages. 57.1% of those who experienced miscarriages said that they didn't ask for work transfers, 27.1% of those said that they were afraid of disadvantage including being expelled. Overall, women migrant workers couldn't take care of their motherhood because of monetary concerns.

2) Educational Training Problems

Communicational problems have proved to be one of major problems experienced by women migrant workers since 31.9% said that their daily communications are problems while 23.9% said that cultural conflicts are. They also said that they have never heard of motherhood protection policies, labor laws, laws for sexual violence, compulsory monthly leave policies.

3) Violence Problems

12.1% of those surveyed said that they have experienced sexual violence, and 30.4% of them said that they have experienced them through body contacts, while 55.6% of them said that they have experienced sexual violence by their Korean supervisors. Of the sexual violence cases, 55% of them took place after their work hours, 56.3% in their work places. However, 38.9% of them said that they didn't do anything after the violence while 28.6% said that they have been fired after reporting of the violence. 52.6% of those experienced sexual violence said that they experienced indignity and shame.

66.7% of those who experienced sexual violence said that they didn't get any indemnity, even though 70.6% of them knew that the sexual aggressors are subject to legal punishments. 72.2% of them said that they need counselling places and shelters to ask for help while 33.3% said that they wanted to get help through preparation education against sexual violence.

Concerning the forms of violence, those surveyed said of 15.2% verbal, 9.4% sexual harrassment, 8.2% physical violence and 4.4% sexual violence. Also of the violent aggressors, 30.7% are company owners, 19.3% are supervisors, 16.2% are Korean colleagues, 8.9% are market owners.

4) Human Rights

Several reports on women migrant workers showed that their human rights have been infringed under their particular conditions including low payments, poor working environments, unprotected motherhood, sexual violence, and sexual harassments. 41.0% of those asked said that their human rights have been broken and 12.3% of them said that their human rights have been broken frequently. 44.4% of them said that they had counseling help from others and 29.5% of them did at foreign labor centers, while 82.3% said the help was helpful. 39.8% of them said that their attitudes towards Korea has become negatively.

As a conclusion, women migrant workers have been under peculiar situations in terms of human rights including 1)sexually discriminatory payments 2) the absence of protected motherhood and child care system 3) sexual harassment and violence 4)  being induced and enforced into sexual industry 5) the shortage of women's dormitories. Moreover, their human rights' infringements are more serious because they cannot protest against them due to their illegal residence. With the start of the Employment Permission System on August, the number of cases of human rights infringements due to their illegal residence, the exploitation based on sexual discrimination will continue.

5) Children's Human Rights Issues for Migrant Workers

According to an international convention, the children's utmost interests should be secured at any rate. Principles of fundamental needs and development for children should be considered and children have rights to special protection. However, children of migrant workers in Korea are not properly protected: policies for children's rights to health, welfare, education, leisures, cultural activities are not fully prepared. Children of illegal migrant workers have restricted rights to health and education: due to the absence of health care system, children cannot visit hospitals, and even though they are legally permitted into elementary schools, such cases are rare, due to the lack of attention and understanding, and the prejudice of Korean parents. In the case of middle schools, the entrance is more difficult because the decisions are made by the principals, only. In the case of girls, they are subject to the danger of sexual violence, there is no system to protect them.

B. Achievements and Limitations

1) The Efforts by the Government and its Achievements and Limitations

(1) The Employment Permit System

In order to solve the problems of women migrant workers, first of all, the advancement of policies are required. The majority of migrant workers in Korea had to endure exploitation and human rights infringements because of the insecurity of their residence: more than 80% of them are illegal (undocumented). Also the fundamental reason for the series of problems of women migrant workers is their 'illegal residency.' Therefore the legalization of non-registered workers and labor provider policies should be secured first in order to resolve the problems of human rights and poverty of them.

Even though the Korean government has adopted the Trainee System as a policy to provide migrant workers in Korea from the beginning of the 1990s, the policies from the incipient had great potentials of exploitations and human rights infringements since they are based on small sum of wages. Therefore, the migrant workers' centers and civic groups have demanded the abolishment of the system and the establishment of a new system. Finally, after 10 years of demanding for the abolishment of Trainee System and the establishment of foreign laborers protection system, the Employment Permit System (EPS) for migrant workers has been passed in the Parliament on August 2003.

However, since several parts of the laws are against the interest of migrant workers, they need to be amended: the EPS provides the contract rights only to the employers, workers cannot change their work places at their will, the workers are required to pay for pensions and welfares which is not promised to be reimbursed, and the workers are required to renew their contracts yearly for their three year contracts.

(2) Repayments for Industrial Disasters

The non-registered migrant workers couldn't get compensation for their industrial disasters. Only after the migrant workers who suffered from industrial disasters protested with chains around their bodies and shouted that "We are also human beings" at the Myeongdong Cathedral, the road to industrial reimbursement for migrant workers opened.

(3) The Systems for Human Rights and Social Rights for Migrant Workers

Even though the government has established two hotlines of 1138 and 1366 for migrant workers to provide help, when the women migrant workers were sexually attacked, the cases are dealt at the section of external affairs department at the police. Therefore their illegal residency and the lack of recognition of the police have made their cases to be not properly dealt.

The Ministry of Equal Treatment and Fairness for Women has built two shelters for women migrant workers who suffered from sexual violence and human trafficking, and added the particles in the system to stop sex trafficking to provide shelters and systems to protect them. However, the laws have shortcomings of being difficult to induce women migrant workers to voluntary report since the laws lean toward expelling of them. However, the Ministry shows the limitations of paying no attention to the issues of motherhood and other human rights for women migrant workers, failing to establish a comprehensive plan.

'The Study on Human Rights Issues for Women Migrant Workers' by the Korean Women's Development Institute aims at understanding the current situations of human rights infringements for women migrant workers and at seeking for alternatives both by the government and civil organizations. If the alternatives suggested by the study can be prepared, the efforts will be a great turning - point for the welfares of women migrant workers. However since the study has focused on women workers, it only has policy suggestions excluding the reviews on current situations and problems of international marriages, an important part of women migrant workers.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has made it clear that the racially discriminatory word, 'Skin Color (Sal-saek),' is against law by the Constitution, attributing to the understanding between races.

Also local governments have increased their attentions to migrant workers, by assisting a variety of projects including Korean and cultural educations, and by the establishing shelters. The local governments who have a great number of migrant workers have started activities to help migrant workers adapt to Korean society and to increase the attention of local residents.

(4) The System for Educational Rights for Children of Migrant Workers

The Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development has permitted the entrance of children of migrant workers into elementary schools according to the International Conventions on Children' Rights. However, children of illegal migrant workers still have difficulties to attend schools due to the illegal residency of their parents. Also young adults of middle school years undergo hardships to attend schools because their admissions to schools are decided by the principals.

2) The Efforts of Civic Organizations and Their Limitations

(1) System Advancement Efforts- The Establishment of Migrant Workers' Law

Several organizations for migrant workers began to show in the beginning of the 1990s and they gave birth to a new league of JCMK to lead the resolution of the problems of migrant workers. The group showed the problems of Trainee System through the sit-in protests of the Nepalese trainees at the Myeong-dong Cathedral in 1995, and it also led the establishment of the Foreign Workers' Protection Laws since 1996.

The group has led the advancement of the policies of the introduction of foreign workers since 1999. Especially, the JCMK, in cooperation with other civic groups, produced a public letter in 2001 criticizing the government's report submitted in June 1999 to the Committee of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (The Committee of the Social Rights).

The series of efforts by the JCMK have greatly attributed to the advancement of human rights and policies for migrant workers. Moreover, the group also has organized a committee with 166 civic and religious groups in 2002 against the enforcement of expelling of the migrant workers, for the abolishment of Trainee System, and for the establishment of a new policy.

(2) The Protection of Health Rights through the Migrant Workers Health Association in Korea Medical Mutual-Aid Union for Migrant Workers in Korea (MUMK).

When the migrant workers get sick, they face a number of problems. The JCMK, with the assistance of the Community Chest of Korea, has made the MUMK in order to provide medical help for migrant workers, especially for women for their child’s birth, and their children. The group has also taken care of migrant workers through free medical centers including Raphael Clinic, Good Neighbor Clinic, and Cheongdong Agape Clinic.

(3) The Achievements of Human and Social Rights for Migrant Workers

The social rights for migrant workers have increased due to the activities of the migrants workers centers through such activities including resolutions of delayed payments,medical assistance, sexual violence, domestic violence, and problems at sexual industries, and also through educational programs including Korean language and culture.

(4) The Organization of Women Migrant Workers and its Activities

The organization forwomen migrant workers was founded in 1997. The organization has showned the problems of women migrant workers, especially those of international marriages and sexual industries, therefore drawing public attentions to the issues. The groups' approach to the issues of women migrant workers from women's perspectives, raising academic interest to them.

(5) The Suggestion and Adoption of the public commitment on the Protection of Women Migrant Workers for their Human Rights and against Violence during the General Election.

The women's organizations in Korea have yet paid enough attention to the issues of women migrant workers. The Korea Women's Association United (KWAU) has included the part of women migrant workers into the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and suggested the protection of women migrant workers against violence, and the assurance of their human rights to be included into the public promises during the general elections on April 15, 2004.

(6) The Increased Attention of the Media to the Issues of Migrant Workers

The MBC TV program of "Asia, Asia" has played a role in changing the policy of Trainee System into the Employment Permit System through its humanitarian perspective and attributed to the resolution of racial biases in the society.

C. Assignments

1) The Assignments of the Government

(1) The government should sign on the International Convention on Migrant Workers and Their Families, the World Convention on the Resolution of Racial Discrimination, and the 4 unsigned particles of the International Labor Organization.

(2) The women migrant workers should also be protected according to the laws of motherhood, the equal employment regulations, the laws against sexual harassment and the laws against sexual and domestic violence.

(3) The ministries of the government, including that of Equal Treatment and Fairness for Women should include the policy of human rights assurance of women migrant workers into its fundamental regulation plan.

(4) The central and local governments together should reinforce the systems for the protection of human rights of women migrant workers such as counselling places, motherhood protection centers, employment information centers, and the educational programs of Korean language and culture. The governments should also provide services of public administrations and make the environments for their daily lives.

(5) The government should establish and enforce the protection policies for children of migrant workers according to the International Convention on Children's Rights.

2) The Assignments of Civic Groups

(1) The civic groups working for the improved rights of migrant workers should demand the government to sign on the international laws on the issues and to amend the Employment Permit System from the perspectives of women migrant workers.

(2) The groups also should adapt the laws on women's rights including laws of motherhood, equal employment regulations, the laws against sexual harassment and the laws against sexual and domestic violence.

(3) The groups should also promote and ensure the activities of the central and local governments for the assurance of human rights of migrant workers.

(4) The groups should also educate personel and volunteers to have gender-awareness, and sexual fairness, and should prepare activities to prevent violence against women migrant workers and to assure their human rights.

(5) The group also should promote the government to prepare policies and promote the social services for the assurance of the human rights of the children of migrant workers according to the international conventions.

3. Migrants Women Having Entered Korea Through International Marriages

1. Present Conditions in Korea

According to data from the Korea National Statistical Office, the total number of foreign women having married Korean men from 1990 to 2003 was 102,168.  A closer inspection of the data shows that there has been a recent increase in the number of international marriages.  While the number of international marriages of foreign women and Korean men was only 619 in 1990, this figure increased by more than thirty-fold to 19,214 thirteen years later in 2003.  Taking a look at the distribution by nationalities for the 19,214 women married in 2003, 70% were Chinese nationals and 6% were Japanese nationals.  In the “Other” category, women from third world countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, Russia, and Mongolia made up 22% of the total figure, indicating that many women from third world countries were entering Korea through international marriages.

1) Poverty

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2) Violence

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