50,000 people have already left Korea due to crackdown on illegal stay of foreigners and encouragement to leave the country

The Ministry of Justice announced early this year that it would pursue a five-year plan to reduce illegal immigration by 2027 through its major business implementation plan. Through this, we plan to reduce the number of unregistered (illegal) foreigners, currently estimated at 410,000, to around 200,000 in five years.

Let’s take a look at the current progress.

How do we crack down on unregistered foreigners?

*Virtually constant crackdown: The Ministry of Justice is conducting quarterly government joint crackdowns, including the first government joint crackdown (March 2~4.30.) and the second government joint crackdown (June 12~July 31), to establish order in the stay of foreigners.

To this end, we maintain a regular crackdown system by collaborating with various government agencies such as the Ministry of Justice, the National Police Agency, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Additionally, measures such as exemption from entry restrictions are being taken to encourage illegal foreigners to voluntarily leave the country.

*Concurrent crackdown on crime: The government's joint crackdown is not just limited to cracking down on illegal foreigners, but also cracks down on drug offenders, illegal employers, and job brokers. In addition, we are trying to improve the management system as there are quite a few foreigners who come as seasonal workers and then choose to stay illegally.

50,000 people have already left Korea due to crackdown

*Crackdown status in the first half of this year: In particular, the Ministry of Justice operated a permanent crackdown system, including the first joint government crackdown, to crack down on 20,427 illegal foreigners and take measures such as forcibly deporting 18,782 people. In addition, approximately 37,000 people left Korea in the first half of the year alone, including 18,157 people who left the country on their own. The crackdown on more than 20,000 foreigners is the largest crackdown in history.

*Approximately 50,000 people left the country between March and July alone: ​​The Ministry of Justice did not stop here and conducted a second joint government crackdown in June and July, catching 6,114 illegal foreigners. Of these, 5,482 people were forced to leave the country, including forcible deportation, and a separate 5,476 people left the country on their own. From March to July, as many as 48,000 illegal aliens left Korea. Recently, the Korean government has changed the system to allow legal foreigners to stay for a long time and is expanding the entry of new foreigners. This was to fill the gap left by illegal foreigners.

Foreigners also caught applying for false refugee status

*Help 149 people with false refugee applications: Refugee application is one of the means by which illegal foreigners pretend to be legal and refuse to leave the country. Accordingly, the Incheon International Airport Immigration Office arrested three brokers who abused the refugee system and helped 149 foreign nationals of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Russia file false refugee applications. They received 800,000 to 1.5 million won per person, provided guidance on how to apply for refugee status, and provided fake documents.

*What is the reason for applying for false refugee status? : Brokers said that foreigners applying for refugee status even though they had not in fact received any threats or persecution in their home country, they instructed me to apply for refugee status with false reasons such as “I was threatened and attacked by the Taliban armed group in their home country” “I was persecuted for religious reasons in my home country” and “I received death threats from my girlfriend’s family.” It is important to keep in mind that if you are caught making a false refugee application, not only will you be subject to criminal punishment, but you will never be able to enter Korea again.

Mary Eve of Papaya Stroy