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H Amza al-Odaini had two ways in front of him after finishing high school in Yemen: being forced to pick up a rifle and fight in the civil war now in his fourth year, or flee the country. 19659003] In the end, his mother decided for him, sending the 17 year old man on a trip through Oman and Malaysia, before landing on the South Korean island of Jeju. He hoped to study to become an engineer, but in the two months following his arrival there was a brutal awakening.
"It was really hard to leave, but it's better than staying and being captured and forced to fight" Odaini told me. "When I had to accept that I became a refugee, I thought it meant that I would have a better life, that I could go to university and that I would get financial support. . The arrival of Odaini and more than 550 other Yemeni refugees sparked an intense debate in South Korea about the country's role in hosting asylum seekers, with the population being divided between calls to compassion. and immediate expulsion. Much of the anti-refugee rhetoric has taken on Islamophobic connotations, and detractors are drawing attention to the European refugee crisis as a lesson in the woes of uncontrolled migration
Refugees are stuck in limbo, unable to leave the island and do not know how long they will be allowed to stay after fleeing a civil war that the UN Secretary-General has called "the worst crisis" humanitarian aid to the world ". About 2 million people have fled their homes and more than 8 million are on the verge of starvation.
More than 700,000 people signed a petition calling on the government to cancel Yemeni refugee applications and expel them from the island. The presidential office usually responds to petitions that collect more than 200,000 signatures, but up to now President Moon Jae-in, himself a refugee son from North Korea, has remained silent on the issue.
Although there has been a net of refugee claims in South Korea for years, about 10,000 people sought asylum last year, with only 1.2% or 121 cases, according to the Department of Justice
. include the more than 30,000 North Korean refugees living in South Korea, whose presence has been widely accepted and who enjoy citizenship and government benefits upon arrival. They are welcomed amidst a mantra that South Korea is pure racial – a nation danil minjok or monoethnic – and this idea was part of the official school curriculum until the UN advised to withdraw it in 2007.
Hundreds of people protested in Seoul against their acceptance, calling them "fake refugees" and accusing Yemenis of being economic migrants. Online forums for mothers in Jeju who are usually discussing landau critics or the best pre-school education have become extremely political in recent months.
"I am absolutely against having refugees," writes a woman. "I really hate the idea that people with the religion of Islam live in large numbers in Jeju."
Others point to the refugee crisis in Europe, and hope to avoid a similar fate for South Korea. Accustomed to living in Europe … and accepting the Muslim population is literally a crazy idea, "writes another.
The most virulent critics of Yemenis came from conservative Christian groups. A recent poll showed that 49 percent of South Koreans were opposed to accepting refugees, while 39 percent were in favor of acceptance.
Despite the animosity, the people of Jeju were very kind to the Yemenis.
"They fled to survive and they are looking for a better life here, so we should take care of them," said Son Chun-ja, a fermented soybean merchant. sauces and pickled vegetables on the largest market of the island. "It's the same for Koreans who have fled in the past for a better life, it would be horrible if these Koreans were expelled."
For the moment, migrants are just trying to keep busy and start rebuilding their lives.
Odaini worked on a fishing boat repairing nets for three days, his first job, before his boss discovered his age. he fired. He now spends his days like many Yemenis in Jeju, studying Korean and talking with friends.
As one of the youngest refugees, he was greeted by a Korean family, members of the local Catholic Church. But thinking of his mother always brings him to tears.
"The last time I saw her, she told me to live in peace," Odaini said. "She told me to take care of myself and study hard."
Additional report by Youngjoo Kaitlin Kang
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