Ministry of Justice to Establish Dedicated Unit for Collecting Information on Refugee-Origin Countries

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Ministry of Justice is pushing to establish a dedicated organization to professionally analyze and collect situational information from refugee-origin countries.

According to the legal community on the 31st, the Ministry of Justice recently announced a research service bid titled "Operation Cases and Legal System Research of Dedicated Organizations for Country of Origin Information in Major Overseas Countries."

This research aims to enhance the efficiency of related tasks, including the establishment of a dedicated organization to collect and manage "Country of Origin Information" (COI), which refers to comprehensive information such as security, human rights, and political situations of refugee-origin countries used in refugee examinations.

Although Country of Origin Information is a key resource used to determine refugee recognition, there have been controversies surrounding its reliability due to a lack of dedicated personnel and expertise. The plan is to increase professionalism through a dedicated organization to reduce disputes over refugee examination results.

Human rights organizations have pointed out that despite the rapid increase in domestic refugee applications, reliable Country of Origin Information, which is an important basis for determining refugee recognition, has not been properly collected or managed, leading to unfair judgments such as denial of refugee status.

In the research service request, the Ministry of Justice cited dedicated organizations for Country of Origin Information in 12 major countries including international organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA), as well as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, requesting a detailed investigation into their operational methods, workforce composition, and budget management.

The Ministry of Justice currently operates dedicated personnel for Country of Origin Information investigations across four regions: Southeast Asia, Russia and Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. However, due to excessive workload and relatively insufficient expertise, it is reported that they are considering both personnel reinforcement and the establishment of a separate dedicated organization.

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