Monday to protect the rights of foreign workers, saying they can face serious
human rights violations and discrimination.
"Migrant workers remain at risk of a range of serious human rights
violations," the London-based watchdog said in a report.
There are about 400,000 migrant workers in South Korea, it said. Of these
at least 189,000, mostly from China and Southeast Asia, are staying illegally.
The migrants have helped fill labour-intensive positions often shunned by
locals due to low wages and harsh conditions.
South Korea two years ago introduced an Employment Permit System for
Migrant Workers (EPS).
This system bans discrimination, ensures access to health insurance and
recognises the right to a system of redress against employers in cases of
overdue wages or accidents.
"However, migrant workers, in reality, continue to have limited protection
against discrimination and abuse and few possibilities of obtaining redress,"
Catherine Kim, director of Amnesty's branch in South Korea, told reporters.
They often work excessively long hours for lower wages than Korean workers
in similar jobs, with their wages withheld, she said.
"Many arrive in South Korea already heavily indebted to recruitment
agencies in their own countries, only to find the jobs they are assigned are
more dangerous or poorly paid than they expected or were promised."
Fear of antagonising their employers and the risk of losing their jobs
makes many workers reluctant to report health problems or abuse, she said.
The EPS appears to have had "little positive impact" on health and safety
at work for migrant workers, Kim said.
From 2000 to 2004, more than a thousand migrant workers annually have
suffered from workplace accidents, but they have received "inadequate
compensation," she said.
Women, who account for a third of all migrant workers, sometimes faced
sexual harassment.
A survey in 2004 showed 12 percent of the women suffered sexual violence at
work, but many had not reported the abuses due to fear of losing jobs.
The EPS showed South Korea's "significant" attempt to protect the basic
rights of migrant workers, Kim said.
"However, its implementation reveals that migrant workers remain a
vulnerable community," she said.
lim/sm/skj
SKorea-labour-migrants
AFP 300921 GMT APR 07
