END IMMIGRATION RAIDS!

Today's rally in front of Seoul's Immigration Office was organized in protest of the vicious crackdown that was held in preparation to the G-20 Summit which resulted in the death of a Vietnamese migrant worker(*).

http://blog.jinbo.net/CINA/?m=2006-02

Demanding Compensation and an End to Immigration Raids

Protest statement concerning the death of a Vietnamese worker Trinh Cong Quan as a result of an immigration raid in South Korea.

On November 3, Trinh Cong Quan, a 35-year-old Vietnamese worker, tragically lost his life. His death was the result of the South Korean government's vicious crackdown on undocumented migrants. On October 29, immigration officers raided the factory where T was working in the Gasan district of Seoul. They entered the factory by surprise without presenting a warrant and Quan found himself trapped. With other pathways blocked, he tried to escape through a window and fell to his death.
Since his arrival in South Korea in 2002, Quan had worked diligently at small-scale factories. Only a little while ago he fell in love and began a family. He and his wife had a child who is now 4-months old. This newly born child has lost his father, and yet the South Korean government refuses to take responsibility.

The Ministry of Justice has stated that because there was no physical contact between Quan and the immigration officers, it is not at fault for his death. Similarly, the Seoul Immigration Service has made no official statement of apology and has not taken steps to compensate the family for their loss.

Sadly, the manner in which the raid on October 29 was carried out, with no due process or precautionary measures, was typical for South Korea. Immigration officers routinely chase down migrant workers without presenting warrants or giving prior notification. This is not the first time a worker has died or been injured in a raid. The cases are too numerous to count. Only a few weeks ago, another Vietnamese worker was indiscriminantly beaten after being caught by immigration officials. These facts demonstrate the racist and inhumane attitude of public officials towards migrant workers. Such attitudes have led to and are reproduced by South Korea's immigration law, which does not require the presentation of warrants or adequate safety procedures during raids and which contains no policy for dealing with undocumented migration other than indiscriminate crackdowns.

We wish to emphasize that the problem of undocumented migration cannot be solved though immigration raids. Undocumented migration arises from the lack of good jobs in home countries and the lack of sufficient legal pathways to enter and work in destination countries.

Undocumented migrant workers are not criminals, nor are the obstacle to the successful holding of the G20 Summit. Nonetheless, the government has been using the G20 as an excuse to intensify the immigration crackdown. We cannot help but believe that Quan's death is directly connected to this increased repression ahead of the G20 Summit. While the government believes the G20 Summit with enhance South Korea's international reputation, it is quickly falling far behind concerning international human rights standards.

We will not stand by while innocent people are abused and murdered simply because they do not have visas. We express our solidarity for migrant workers and their supporters in South Korea who struggling to win respect for their rights. Together with them, we make the following demands on the South Korean government:

1. We demand that the South Korean Ministry of Justice and the Seoul Immigration Service take moral and legal responsibility for Quan's death.

2. We demand a full investigation of the non-warranted invasion and improper safety procedures that lead to his death, and that those responsible are punished.

3. We demand that Quan's bereaved family be given proper emotional and financial compensation.

4. We demand that Ministry of Justice stop using the G20 Summit as an excuse to repress migrant workers and stop the crackdown immediately.
http://migrant.nodong.net/?document_srl=54504#2

--------------------------------------------------------

Struggle for the Labor Rights

Nowadays as the economy faces ever-serious crisis day by day and the toiling masses﹊ right to existence get worse more and more the struggle against the government﹊s anti-people misrule is intensifying among the south Korean labor circle.
On October 29 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions staged a struggle in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, denouncing the government﹊s moves to liquidate the trade unions.
They held a rally in front of the main gate of a factory, supporting the struggle of its women workers who continued the sit-in for several days to protest against the government﹊s suppression of their trade union.
As the puppet police mercilessly suppressed the rally blockading the factory﹊s gate and threatening with helicopters and water canons, the unionists took the streets and waged a violent demonstration shouting slogans such as ﹍Stop the suppression of workers!﹎, ﹍Let us defend the democratic trade unions!﹎, ﹍We want to work!﹎ and ﹍Let us overthrow the Lee Myung-bak government which kills workers and common people!﹎.
Then they held a rally in front of the Gumi Station, expressing their support to the struggle of the women workers fighting to frustrate the government﹊s moves for liquidating trade unions and to bring about a just world.
That day, various women organizations including the Women﹊s Committee of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the Women﹊s Solidarity, the General Confederation of Women Peasants Associations and the Women﹊s Committee of the Democratic Labor Party called a press conference in front of the factory﹊s main entrance and strongly demanded the puppet authorities stop the suppression of the women workers and accept their demands.
On October 30 a rally was held in Seoul under the sponsorship of the ﹍Commemoration Committee for the 40th anniversary of the death of young Jeun Tae-il﹎ of south Korea. Jeun was a worker who burnt himself to death, protesting against the government﹊s suppression of workers in 1970.
Present there were some 6000 people including the members of different civic organizations including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Solidarity for Progress.
Speakers there indicated that the part-timers conducted the vigorous struggle against the government﹊s anti-worker policy. They expressed their will to actively struggle in unity for a world without the part-time job and discrimination of the workers. Then they watched a performance in commemoration of martyr Jeun Tae-il .
On the same day, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held a workers﹊ rally to abolish the part-time job.
It also held a national rally of workers with participation of over 40,000 unionists in front of the Seoul municipal office on November 7 and published a resolution in denunciation of the G-20 summit meeting.
The resolution noted that the G-20 summit meeting is a festival of the haves to ponder over a legal method of exploiting the workers and the authorities neglected the workers﹊ rights in the course of preparing the meeting. It called for the settlement of the part-timers﹊ issue and total revision of the labor law.

--------------------------------------------------

Opposing the Fascist Suppression

AINDF

The south Korean people﹊s struggle intensifies as the days go by against the government﹊s confrontation moves against the compatriots which get more undisguised with the ﹍Cheonan﹎ sinking case as a momentum and its fascists suppression of the democratic and progressive forces.
- Recently the Solidarity for Democracy, People's Life, Peaceful Reunification and Sovereignty published a statement under the title ﹍the Security authorities, stop the suppression overusing the National Security Law﹎.
It noted that the security investigation team of the Seoul District Police Office coercively searched the houses of chairman Kang Jin-gu, and other former leading members Choe Han-uk, Kim Ja-gyung and Song Hyun-a of the Organizational Development Committee of the Solidarity for Realizing the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration on charges of violating the NSL. It condemned that the government applies the evil law again to them who suffered the suppression ranging from search to detention for an allegedly fabricated case of the solidarity.
The solidarity will never tolerate the security authorities﹊ suppression, the statement asserted and stressed that they will struggle to the last together with all the people to abolish the anti-democratic, anti-human rights NSL.
- The media and academic headquarters under the South Side Committee for Realizing the June 15 joint Declaration made public a joint statement on October 29 in denunciation of the government﹊s suppression of the Solidarity for Realizing the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration. Lurking behind the continuous suppression by the security authorities is an impure intention to stir up a terrible atmosphere among the people so as to arrest the mounting mood for reunification, the statement asserted.
It condemned the Lee Myung-bak government for totally denying the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration, stepping up the confrontation against the compatriots and driving the inter-Korean relations to a catastrophe.
It demanded the security authorities stop at once the suppression of the solidarity and apologize before the people.
- The South Headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country﹊s Reunification disclosed in a statement published on October 29 that the Defence Security Command forcefully searched the house of the vice-chairperson of the Ansan City Committee of the Democratic Labor Party on charge of violating the NSL finding fault with her husband record in pro-reunification movement organization.
It also divulged that the Security Investigation Corps investigated Lee Tae-hyung, co-executive chairman of the Incheon headquarters of the South Side Committee for Realizing the June 15 joint Declaration.
The government which sticks to the fascist suppression surpassing that of the preceding dictatorial regimes will sustain a terrible revenge of the people, the statement warned and stressed that the progressive forces and other people will judge the fascist government for sure by the concerted efforts of the nation.
- The Students Committee of the Youth and Students Solidarity for Realizing the June 15 Joint declaration released an appeal on November 3 to call on all the democratic forces to turn out in the struggle to frustrate the government﹊s suppression.
The appeal exposed that the present government enacted a special law to mercilessly suppress the people's rally and demonstration by mobilizing police and even army on the ground of holding an international meeting. It is little short of a martial law declared against the people, it criticized.
Illegal investigations of civilians, detentions and coercive searches of members of progressive organizations are conducted almost everyday by the government and the number of suicides protesting against suppression increases, the appeal clarified.
The appeal noted that democracy of the society is ruthlessly tramped down and the people's suffering ever grows daily due to the government﹊s dictatorial rule, and the people can no longer remain on-lookers to the anti-people acts of the government.
All the people should struggle against the government﹊s suppression in order to realize democratization of the society and achieve the right to existence, the appeal said.
- The Joint Conference of Human Rights Organizations and other civic organizations held a rally in Seoul on November 5 to denounce the group of traitors hell-bent on liquidating democracy.
Speakers there deplored that the people's rights are mercilessly violated due to the government﹊s repressive moves.
They noted that the repressive forces spread the horrific atmosphere where they can doubt and arrest the people at random. They stressed that they would dynamically struggle to frustrate the government﹊s suppression.
---------------------------------------------