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JINCHEON, South Korea– Some 391 Afghans who worked with the South Korean government in the war-torn country and their families will temporarily stay in a state-run institute in the central city of Jincheon after arriving in South Korea this week in a frenzied evacuation. The evacuees, including approximately 100 children, will stay at the Leadership Campus of the National Human Resources Development Institute in Jincheon, 91 kilometers south of Seoul, Jincheon County Mayor Song Gi-seop said during a meeting with the residents on Wednesday. Seoul’s foreign ministry announced earlier in the day that military planes carrying the Afghans will arrive at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Thursday, and they are coming not as refugees but as “persons of special merit.” The evacuees are medical professionals, vocational trainers, IT experts and interpreters who worked for Korea’s embassy and its humanitarian and relief facilities in Afghanistan, as well as their family members, the ministry said. Upon arrival, they will be tested for COVID-19 and self-quarantine at the state facility in the county. They are said to stay there for about six to eight weeks. “The opinions of the residents are important and I will pass your thoughts to the (central) government,” the mayor said, adding he will also deliver concerns over virus transmissions and any negative impacts of the plan on the county’s image and its economy. Yoon Chang-yul, first vice minister of the office of government policy coordination, reassured locals that the government has fully vetted the identities of the evacuees, saying there needs to be no worries of “Taliban fighters being included” in the incoming group. “They are not refugees but local elites who worked at our embassy and their families,” he said. He also said it would be “inappropriate” from a humanitarian perspective to turn a blind eye to Afghan locals who have aided the South Korean government, and asked the local residents to “present a warm heart” as they did when a group of Koreans who fled from Wuhan, China, during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic were also accommodated in Jincheon. The Leadership Campus of the National Human Resources Development Institute is where 173 South Korean evacuees from Wuhan previously were placed in quarantine in January of last year. Vice Justice Minister Kang Sung-kook said police will patrol the outskirts of the facility 24 hours a day and that 14 ministry personnel will manage the facility. Kang added that information regarding the evacuee accommodations will be shared with local residents regularly. Most residents at the meeting accepted the need and responsibility to receive the Afghan evacuees. But some have expressed discomfort at Jincheon apparently becoming the go-to destination in accommodating evacuees from abroad, especially due to growing concerns over COVID-19. “There is much concern of COVID-19 infections and potential terrorist activities,” one resident said, asking the government to present firm antivirus and security measures. The government is expected to provide the Afghans with immigration status and support similar to refugees. Refugees receive a long-term residency visa and are eligible for employment, social security, educational support, job training and livelihood allowances. The justice ministry said the evacuees will be initially granted a short-term visa for a stay of up to 90 days, and their status will be upgraded later to long-term residency. The ministry also plans to run a program to teach them the Korean language and culture, and help them adapt to Korean society. The ministry did not make public what kind of visa they will receive and whether they would be allowed to get a job here. Given most of them are former workers for the Korean Embassy, hospitals and companies, there is a possibility that they will be allowed to work here. The justice ministry plans to announce admission procedures and plans to accommodate them Thursday. Source: Yonhap News Agency

August 25, 2021

SEOUL– South Korea’s evacuation operations for Afghans, now in their final stage, have been marked by security and logistical hurdles, and unforeseen misfortunes, Seoul officials

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