S. Korean PM pledges to support migrant workers, foreign brides
- 관리자
- 2008.11.10
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SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Han Seung-soo on Monday pledged government efforts to support foreign workers and multi-ethnic families in South Korea, a major hub for migrant labor and international marriage in Asia.
"The Republic of Korea will make greater efforts to protect and respect human rights and the values of a multi-cultural society," Han said in an opening speech for the International Conference on Human Rights of Migrants and Multi-cultural Society. The conference is a three-day forum attended by human rights officials from across Asia.
Han noted several anti-discrimination laws established as the country faced a rapidly growing number of industrial migrant workers and foreign brides beginning in the 1990s. Korea enacted legislature last year to ensure that foreigners receive the same legal rights as locals, followed by a multi-ethnic family support law to help foreign brides learn the Korean language and ensure mandatory education for children of illegal residents.
About 1.2 million foreigners reside here, many from Southeast Asia, who fill in the labor vacuum in low-paying, labor-intensive industrial complexes. An exodus of young women from Korea's rural areas has also forced local farmers to go in search of brides from Southeast Asia. The number of children from such multi-ethnic families has reached 60,000. Navanethem Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that migration is "not always a matter of choice," and called for greater efforts in Asia to respect migrants' rights.
States, noted Pillay, tend to regard migrant workers and refugees as "a threat to their sovereignty and security." Such exclusion has intensified since the beginning of the global war on terror, he said.
"Combating the alarmingly sharp rise in levels of discrimination and xenophobia against migrants is fundamental to ensuring social cohesion, harmony and security," Pillay said in a video message for the conference.
During the forum, about 30 senior officials from human rights commissions from six Asian countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand -- will share their views on migrants' issues. The countries are the main source of migrant workers and foreign brides in Korea.
The participants are scheduled to visit the Ansan Immigrant Center, a major migrant workers' community south of Seoul, and adopt a Seoul declaration to build a cooperation system among their human rights commissions at the end of the forum. The meeting also marks the 60th anniversary of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
From YonhapNews(http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)