South Korean Foreign Minister not welcome in RP, says migrant group

An alliance of Filipino migrant workers' groups worldwide said today that they are set to hound South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan with protests when he pays a visit to the Philippines on July 18.

"Minister Yu is not welcome in the Philippines . We will make sure that wherever he goes, he will be met with angry protests from OFWs and their families;" said Garry Martinez, spokesman of Migrante International.

Martinez also took to task Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, to "protest South Korea 's inhumane crackdown on undocumented workers when he meets with Minister Yu next week."

Meanwhile, Migrante also lashed out at Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Luis T. Cruz after the envoy denied reports of a massive crackdown and deportation on undocumented migrant workers in the North Asian country.

"Clearly, Ambassador Cruz is in a state of denial. How can he claim that there is no crackdown and deportation going on when in fact, it was no less than South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak who publicly ordered the flushing out of 'unregistered aliens' there?"

"If the good ambassador only cared enough to step out of his air-conditioned office in Seou once in a while, maybe he wouldn't appear as clueless as he is on the real situation faced by our OFWs, especially the undocumented, under his watch," he added.

Martinez , a former OFW from South Korea, was once the chairman of the Katipunan ng mga Samahan ng Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea (KASAMMAKO), the group that sounded the alarm on the impending deportation and massive crackdown on an estimated 30,000 Filipinos in South Korea .

KASAMMAKO is among Migrante International's 140 member organizations.

Martinez said: "We are standing pat on our call for the Arroyo government to act on this impending crisis by protesting the inhumane crackdown and the quota system being enforced by immigration authorities in South Korea ."

Connie-Bragas Regalado, Migrante chairperson in a statement released Thursday said that after President Lee Myung-Bak's marching orders to flush out `unregistered aliens' in their country last February, immigration authorities there were given quotas of 3,000 arrests and deportations monthly – 600 for Seoul and 250 for Busan.

"Because of this quota system, South Korean authorities were emboldened to undertake Gestapo-like arrests – indiscriminately raiding work places, train stations and churches even without a warrant," she added.

There are an estimated 653, 000 foreign workers in South Korea including more than 30,000 undocumented Filipinos. ###