The 'Era of War Refugees' Deepened by the Ukraine Crisis... Will Korea Also Play a Role?

Nearly 4 Million Ukrainian Refugees
About 3 Times Syrian Refugees... 'Refugee Crisis' Intensifies
Affects Not Only Neighboring Countries but Also Domestic Areas
Korea's Capacity for 'International Refugee Acceptance' Still in Question
Strong Public Opposition and Government Reluctance
Experts: "International Human Rights Issues Must Also Be Addressed"

Ukrainian refugees are crossing the border on foot in Medyka, a southeastern border city of Poland, on the 27th (local time). / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Myanmar military coup, Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, Russia-Ukraine war.

These are events that have shaken the international community from last year to early this year. As conflicts over power and borders intensify in many countries around the world, the number of war refugees is rapidly increasing. Refugees risking their lives to cross borders to escape war, terrorism, and poverty are not only a problem for neighboring countries. South Korea, as a country that has enacted its own refugee law, is also urged to fulfill its responsibilities in the approaching 'era of war refugees.'

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of the 24th of last month (local time), about 4 million war refugees fled within approximately one month following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. More than 9% of Ukraine's total population (43 million) are crossing borders to escape the war's bombardment.

The number of Ukrainian war refugees is about three times higher than Syrian refugees, who have been enduring civil war for over 10 years since 2011.

Those who fled their homeland to save their lives are not only Ukrainians. Since the military coup in Myanmar in February last year, numerous citizens, democracy activists, and civil society workers have chosen political asylum. Refugees have also surged in Afghanistan, where the Islamic extremist group Taliban took power. In just over two years, the number of refugees worldwide has increased by millions.

On the 9th, the Mariupol Children's Hospital in Ukraine was destroyed by an airstrike. / Photo by Yonhap News

With global geopolitical instability, social and economic vulnerabilities, and conflicts over territory and power rapidly increasing, anxiety is growing that the 'era of war refugees' may be upon us.

Most war refugees seek shelter in neighboring countries until the conflict ends. Of the 4 million refugees who fled Ukraine, most headed to Eastern European countries sharing borders. According to the British public broadcaster BBC, Poland has currently accepted 2.33 million refugees, and other neighboring countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova have each taken in between 400,000 to 600,000 refugees.

European Union (EU) countries are also discussing support measures for refugee acceptance, and the United Kingdom has decided to accept up to 200,000 refugees supported by domestic religious and charitable organizations without conditions. The United States has also agreed to accept 100,000 refugees.

However, refugees do not necessarily only go to neighboring countries. Sometimes, due to unavoidable circumstances, they cannot flee to nearby countries and instead enter distant countries where their families reside. In other words, refugee crises occurring in faraway countries are not necessarily unrelated to South Korea.

Family of Afghan collaborators who arrived in Korea on August 26 last year / Photo by Yonhap News

South Korea has already accepted foreigners who had no choice but to leave their homeland due to the aftermath of war. A representative example is the 378 Afghan special contributors who entered the country last year to escape the Taliban regime.

They are individuals who cooperated with the South Korean government's Afghan reconstruction projects in the past, and if they had remained in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, their lives would have been at risk. The government recognized their contributions and dedication last year by granting them 'F-2' residency status, which guarantees a maximum stay of five years and unrestricted employment activities.

Humanitarian protection for refugees is a principle protected by international law. Earlier, in 1951, the UNHCR concluded the "Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees" (Refugee Convention).

According to the Refugee Convention, all refugees have the right to protection without discrimination, minimum standards of treatment must be observed, and refugee expulsion should only occur in extremely exceptional circumstances such as threats to national security or public order.

The 1950s, when the Refugee Convention was concluded, was a period when the aftermath of World War II had not yet subsided. Many people crossed borders to escape extreme poverty and conflicts. During the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, Koreans were also 'war refugees' who benefited from this convention.

Refugees leaving the Korean Peninsula during the Korean War / Photo by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees website

South Korea accepted the Refugee Convention in 2012 and enacted its own refugee law. In June 2013, a Refugee Division was established within the Ministry of Justice to handle refugee-related affairs.

However, when an actual refugee crisis occurs, it remains questionable whether South Korea can fulfill its humanitarian responsibilities as a member of the international community. First, some citizens show strong resistance to accepting refugees.

A representative case is the 500 Yemeni war refugees who entered Jeju Special Self-Governing Province visa-free in 2018. They fled the Yemeni civil war and urgently set foot on Jeju Island before applying for refugee status. However, at that time, public opinion in South Korea was sharply divided over whether to accept them.

At the plaza in front of Donghwa Duty-Free Shop in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the "National Coalition for Countermeasures Against Illegal Refugee Foreigners" held an anti-refugee acceptance rally, gathering about 1,000 citizens according to the organizers. In their statement, they argued, "Legal grounds must be established to deport those who abuse legal refugee status and exploit humanitarian resources," and claimed, "The refugee law threatens the safety of our citizens."

A petition calling for the abolition of the refugee law and the refugee application approval system was posted on the Blue House's public petition board, garnering over 200,000 signatures in just five days.

A rally by a group opposing the approval of Yemeni refugee applications in Jeju in 2018 / Photo by Yonhap News

The government has also been criticized for being overly passive in refugee policy. According to data comparing refugee recognition rates of various countries from 2010 to 2020 by UNHCR, South Korea's refugee recognition rate was 1.3%, ranking 18th among 19 G20 countries. The only country with a lower recognition rate than South Korea was Japan (0.3%).

Regarding this, Kang Min-jin, leader of the Youth Justice Party, pointed out in a radio interview last year, "South Korea is a politically and economically stable country but is one of the countries that accepts almost no refugees worldwide," highlighting that it lags significantly behind other advanced countries.

Experts argue that the South Korean government should show a more proactive stance on human rights issues such as refugee protection in the future.

The Korean Bar Association stated, "South Korea was the first in Asia to enact a refugee law in 2012 to implement the UN Refugee Convention, and in 2015, it introduced a resettlement refugee system to directly accept refugees," emphasizing, "Given our elevated international status and economic scale, we must take the lead in human rights protection and international humanitarian issues."

They added, "We must seriously recognize the current situation in Ukraine and strive to protect refugees and resolve human rights crises," and "Our government should also play a more active role as a member of the international community."

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