발기취지문
Foreign labors who left family and country then came to Korea with different language and culture are increasing. It is estimated there are more than 100thousand people including illegal workers.
They are usually from China, Philippine, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Pakistan, and working in clothes, electronic, construction place, service work. Many problems are happening by increasing number of them. Korean workers worry effect it will have on employment, media reports cultural clash from difference life and few crimes exaggeratedly
Except the fact that they get payed more, migrant workers suffer lots of difficulties. Problems caused by simple misunderstandings, labor condition with discrimination(illegal employment and 'yeon-su' represent discrimination against foreign workers), especially citizens' cultual discrimination and treatment as criminals, their sufferings are in bad condition.
And because it is illegal, their basic human rights are ignored. In reality, they do not receive industrial disaster insurance benefit for disaster during work, and do not even get right medical treatment.
And often they do not get paid on right time even for working 12-13hours long but they can not do something about it because of 'illegal employees' situation. They sometimes owners even take their passports and force them to work, beat foreign workers. In the other hand, they do not get proper medication when they get sick.
Korean government has been ignoring illegal employment for covering lack of low-paid labors caused by our economic progress. And government and owners are heavily increasing amount of work saying it is for higher payment, pressing workers' request to better working condition.
Some people may think that since we need foreign workers now, we can just make them leave the country when our economy do not need them but it is very foolish thought seeing what Japan, America, Germany, and France experienced. It will be uncontrollable by that time.
Policy which prevents illegal employment, bad working condition, and inhuman treatment should be reformed immediately. This situation will worsen the country's working condition even more and destroy moral standard of our society. We think that it should not be neglected anymore, effective and reasonable improvement system is needed by open discussion.
If agreement which allow importing work force and making public illegal employment is made it must be get through legal and fair process but before that, we should promise foreign workers working in the country minimum working condition and protect their basic human rights. That is a way to improve friendship with other countries as a civilized nation.
Also their basic human rights should not be interfered by any reason. Although they are illegal employs, payment should be payed regularly, they should be cured when they get sick, and they should not be discriminated in any way. This is a problem something can not be delayed.
Up to now we are helping them by some clerics' private works. But the problem has become too serious and big to be handled with these private works. So we need organized activity that helps sick people, helps find delayed payment, and worry their futures together. It may be not a fundamental solution we will make it as power source of a gathering thinking that their human rights should not be delayed any minute.
Our country also had people worked in west Germany as a nurse and a miner in 1960s. And just few years ago, many Korean people were working in countries of Middle East. We remember Koreans who work in the Japan, America. Think ourselves in their position. Who helped them when they were lonely and tired?
We want Korea to be morally developed country as well as economically. So we want to gather power to protect their human rights and solve foreign worker problem by doing activities for improving their human rights such as legal counselling, translating and Korean lesson, medical aid, and research improving system.
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