"Can't Leave the Room" A Look Inside Temporary Facilities for Overseas Arrivals

Incheon Temporary Living Facility for Overseas Arrivals On-site

On the 5th, military support personnel are monitoring CCTV installed in the hallway to prevent residents from leaving at a temporary living facility for overseas arrivals in Incheon. /Incheon=Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] "Once admitted, you cannot leave the room until discharge."

On the 5th, at the situation room of a temporary residential facility for overseas arrivals in Incheon, which operates for foreigners, a facility official said, "The principle here is that residents cannot leave their rooms at all." The facility operates on 12 floors with 453 rooms. About 50 closed-circuit (CC) TVs are installed in the corridors, with 6 on each floor. Staff members, working in pairs, monitor the residents' movements 24 hours a day by checking the CCTV. The official explained, "If residents come out into the corridor, it is automatically detected," adding, "We make announcements telling them to 'go back to your room,' or if necessary, a manager goes to escort them back."

◆ "14 Days of Solitary Living Principle" = Currently, 259 foreigners are staying at this temporary residential facility. They live alone in 25㎡ rooms with no contact with the outside. The principle is one person per room, but children under 12 years old can stay in the same room as their guardian. Although there are windows in the rooms, they are designed not to open, making escape impossible. The facility official said, "To prevent possible community transmission of COVID-19, residents do their laundry themselves using laundry soap and take out their trash outside the room at designated times every day."

Residents can report complaints by calling the support team. Bae Sumi, the head of the temporary residential facility, explained, "The Ministry of Justice and specialized contractors respond to complaints through foreign language services." Daily life guidance broadcasts are also provided in nine languages every day. Director Bae added, "We provide information about meal times, self-diagnosis app health status registration, and prohibition of leaving the facility."

The Central Accident Response Headquarters of the Ministry of Health and Welfare is providing guidance on the admission process and operational status to overseas arrivals at a temporary living facility in Incheon on the afternoon of the 5th. / Incheon = Photo by Joint Press Corps

◆ "Foreigners' Facility? For the Purpose of Protecting Citizens" = The temporary residential facilities for overseas arrivals are provided by a government joint support team composed of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Environment, National Health Insurance Service, National Police Agency, and Fire Agency, to allow foreigners without a residence in Korea to self-quarantine for 14 days. Nine facilities operate in the metropolitan area: two in Seoul, five in Gyeonggi, and two in Incheon. They were established after mandatory self-quarantine for all arrivals was implemented in April. Since May, 2,323 foreigners have used the temporary residential facilities.

Ko Deuk-young, head of the Overseas Arrival Management Team at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, emphasized, "There are misunderstandings like 'Why do we protect foreigners in our facilities?' but this is how we safely protect our citizens." Recently, at a quarantine facility for overseas arrivals in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, three Vietnamese escaped without permission. Ko said, "After the Vietnamese escape incident, we strengthened perimeter surveillance and CCTV installation," adding, "We also plan to add 30 more personnel to the existing 393 dispatched by the joint support team to manage residents."

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