Three Russian “relocants”, who escaped by different routes to South Korea from partial mobilization, were forced to settle at the Seoul airport. Despite their hopes for a “developed democracy” in that country, the Korean government has rejected their application for refugee status, and they are likely to face deportation to Russia in the near future. The Korean newspaper Korea Times presented the story of these three relocators.
As the publication assures, all three somehow tried to hide from the mobilization, spending all their money along the way. For example, one “sufferer”, 23-year-old Vladimir M. from Buryatia, a sophomore at the local university, according to him, “left home on the night of September 24, a few hours after he received the summons” – so he at least he assured me in an interview. He “jumped into a car with other neighbors”, and thus left for Mongolia, then he went to the Philippines, where he stayed for several weeks, and Korea became the last point of his journey, with “the last few dollars” left in the pocket of the relocant. He stated that he was confident that “Korea is a very developed country in terms of democracy and civil rights”, but he was in for an unpleasant surprise: when he applied for refugee status at Incheon International Airport, the Korean government rejected his application at the pre-evaluation stage. , which means that he will not face further checks.
The publication explains: in accordance with Korean refugee law, asylum seekers can apply for refugee status at the port of entry and undergo an interview for a preliminary assessment. If the immigration authorities deem their reasons valid, applicants may be subject to additional screening. Otherwise, they will probably be repatriated.
Another of the relocators represented by the person, a certain Andrey from Krasnoyarsk, in his own words, an active participant in anti-government protests, also allegedly received a summons to military service and stated that he was “on the black list” with the government and he had no other choice but to how to run.” This victim traveled to Korea through Kazakhstan, but he fled from Kazakhstan at the first news that the country was supposedly going to extradite “relocators”. “I hope Korea will help me stay here,” he said. A third figure, 31-year-old Jashar H., a football player from Nalchik, told an even more heart-rending story — according to him, in November “the military came to him and forced me to sign a document stating that I would be considered a deserter if I did not report for military service.” . military in a few days.”
As a result, Russian relocators – five in all – live for months at the Icheon airport, at the expense of “humanitarian aid” from the local Ministry of Justice – as the newspaper writes, “for breakfast and dinner, a bun and a package of juice, and for lunch, rice with chicken.” However, they had enough for state lawyers – the sufferers filed a complaint with the Incheon Administrative Court against the Ministry of Justice, urging it to annul the decision to refuse to transfer the case. The court decision is expected at the end of this month. If the court decides against, the fugitives who have stayed too long will be deported to Russia with a chance. So far, the Ministry of Justice is firmly on the position that draft evasion is not a valid reason for recognition as refugees.
At the same time, the Ministry of Justice unequivocally commented that they recommend the government “to be careful, since setting a precedent can lead to a sharp increase in the number of asylum seekers in the future.” South Korea is a very intolerant country in this sense, in 2021 the refugee acceptance rate in Korea was 1.3%, which is the second lowest rate among the G-20 countries.
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