The cumulative number of people who have applied for refugee status in South Korea has surpassed 1,000, but less than a tenth of them got permission to stay, according to government data released on Thursday.
Since South Korea joined the U.N. refugee treaty in 1992, a total of 1,002 foreigners have sought asylum in the country for reasons of racial, religious and national persuction at home, data from the Ministry of Justice showed.
The document suggested that less than a tenth of the applicants received the status and that a majority of them were still waiting for their case to be heard. Of the 340 people whose cases were fully examined, 50 were granted refugee status and 44 others received permission to stay on humanitarian grounds as of May.
The annual number of asylum seekers has gradually increased in recent years to 410 last year from 399 in 2004. The Korean government adopted a more generous policy toward asylum seekers after President Roh Moo-hyun took office in early 2003. Only two people had received the status by 2002.
Seoul, Oct. 26 (Yonhap News)
One in ten applicants granted refugee status in S. Korea |
