Daegu Multicultural Families Sweat It Out Volunteering at COVID-19 Self-Quarantine Sites

161 Foreigners in Self-Quarantine as of the 22nd
Marriage Immigrants Play Active Roles in Interpretation Support and Monitoring

Interpreters affiliated with the Healthy Family Multicultural Family Support Center posing for a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] In Daegu, a region that experienced great confusion during the early spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in South Korea, multicultural families including marriage immigrants are attracting attention by engaging in volunteer activities across various fields.

According to Daegu City on the 25th, since early April, the population influx from abroad, including foreign students, workers, and marriage immigrants, has been increasing again in Daegu. Accordingly, as of the 22nd, the number of foreigners under self-quarantine reached 161.

In response, Daegu City is actively utilizing an interpretation pool composed of marriage immigrants affiliated with the Healthy Family Multicultural Family Support Center to proactively respond to unexpected situations such as quarantine breaches caused by language communication difficulties among foreigners under self-quarantine and to detect symptomatic individuals early.

Eighty-six marriage immigrants from nine countries have contributed to preventing community reinfection by providing interpretation support for monitoring 860 foreigners under self-quarantine and conducting seven on-site verification surveys, averaging 12.6 people per day over about two months from April 8 to 14. The Daegu Multicultural Instructor Association, a nonprofit organization mainly composed of marriage immigrant women who work as multicultural instructors in the region, donated 1,385,000 won to the Daegu Community Chest of Korea to help overcome COVID-19.

Marriage immigrant Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy (from Vietnam) purchased quarantine supplies such as masks and hand sanitizers and donated them to the Multicultural Center, while the "Ikoi Choir," composed of marriage immigrants from Japan, participated in various efforts to overcome the crisis by creating videos expressing their longing for their hometown and sharing them on SNS accounts.

Park Jae-hong, head of the Women's and Family Policy Division of Daegu City, said, "Whether foreign residents and multicultural families become valuable assets to the region depends entirely on us," adding, "We will actively support multicultural families to be recognized as partners and proud members of society and to establish their place."

Meanwhile, foreign residents living in Daegu account for 1.9% of Daegu's population (47,017 people as of November 2018), approximately 2 out of every 100 people.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.