United Nations: South Korea admits few refugees

Original article in Korean is at this link.

A study has found that the Republic of Korea is stingy in recognizing refugee status.

According to statistics published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the 18th, by the end of 2011 over 3,900 people had applied for refugee status in the Republic of Korea but a mere 401 have been successful so far in gaining recognition as refugees or permission to stay for humanitarian reasons.

In fact, the number granted refugee or humanitarian residence status has shrunk each year.

The UNHCR said on the 18th that in 2011 the number of forced migrants increased considerably to reach the largest number since the year 2000.

The UNHCR published all this in its “Global Trends Report”. According to the Report, in 20111 there were 800,000 new refugees worldwide.

According to the Report, in 2011 4.3 million people left their homes due to civil wars and other reasons, and 800,000 of them left their hometowns and became refugees.

By the end of last year 15.42 million out of 42.5 million of people had been given refugee status and another 26.4 million had left their homes, 895,000 of whom are currently applying for refugee status.