SEOUL: The United Nations Human Rights Committee has urged South Korea to compensate a 52-year-old Congolese asylum seeker and take steps to prevent similar violations after he was confined for 14 months in the transit area of Incheon Airport, according to public interest law group Duroo on Wednesday (April 8).
The committee found that he was forced to remain in the airport’s transit area until April 2021. It described the 14-month confinement as arbitrary detention, saying the deprivation of liberty lacked a clear legal basis. During that time, he lived in inhumane conditions with little privacy and limited access to basic necessities.
“The Republic of Korea violated the rights of an asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo after refusing to process his refugee claim at Incheon Airport and leaving him confined in the transit area,” the United Nations Human Rights Committee said, referring to Korea by its official name.
The Congolese man arrived at the airport in February 2020 as a transit passenger and told an immigration officer that he wanted to apply for refugee status.
According to Duroo, the 52-year-old was forcibly conscripted into a Ugandan-backed armed rebel group and fled six months later. After witnessing fellow rebel recruits being killed in Congo, he hid in a national park for four months.
But because he was a transit passenger, he was told he could neither pass through immigration nor apply for asylum under South Korea’s Refugee Act.
The Congolese asylum seeker on Wednesday described the months he spent in the transit area as “hell.”
“I had to sleep on chairs in the transit area, and I had to pay for all my meals in the terminal even though they were expensive,” he said. “I soon ran out of money.”
He said he had to rely on help from other travelers to find food, and often fell ill after surviving mainly on potato chips and water. His lawyers provided him with medicine, he added.
“The transit zone of an international airport is not a legal black hole,” said Helene Tigroudja, vice chair of the UN Human Rights Committee.
Tigroudja said forcing transit passengers to remain in restricted areas for an indefinite period under inhumane conditions, while struggling to obtain food, medical assistance and hygiene products, places them in legal limbo and severe distress.
The committee also described the man’s stay in the transit area as a form of arbitrary detention, saying the deprivation of liberty lacked a clear legal basis.
It added that rejecting the asylum seeker's refugee claim on formal grounds, without reviewing the risks he might face if returned, violated South Korea’s obligations under international human rights treaties.
“This case is an example of how denial of the right to seek asylum can trigger a chain of further violations,” Tigroudja said. “The Republic of Korea must ensure that no one is left for months in any transit zone without protection, legal basis, or dignified conditions.”
The Incheon District Court later ruled in 2021 that it was unlawful to keep the asylum seeker in the transit area without due cause. The Congolese has since entered South Korea and is awaiting a decision on his refugee claim.
He said he still suffers from illnesses he developed while living at the airport.
“I am exhausted. Even now, I hope the South Korean government will sincerely apologize to me and compensate me for the 14 months I spent at the airport,” he said.
“The refugee application screening system at ports of entry was introduced when the Refugee Act was enacted in 2013,” said Lee Sang-hyun, a lawyer at Duroo.
“At the time, the National Assembly and the government said the law would meet global standards and reflect the dignity of a country aspiring to be advanced in human rights. They also took pride in creating Asia’s first standalone refugee law.”
Lee said that despite the legislation, more than 60 percent of people who arrive in South Korea through airports and claim asylum are denied entry and kept in detention-like conditions.
"The Korean government should adhere to the international agreements it has ratified and do its responsibility as a country with advanced human rights," said Duroo. - The Korea Herald/ANN
