|
There are now more than 120,000 foreign wives who are married to Korean men and living in Korea. International marriages accounted for 11.1 percent of the country's total matrimony in 2007 -- one in nine couples being multicultural. Over 58,000 babies were born into multicultural families. Korea has briskly become multicultural. But the country has yet to fully accept those from multicultural families as its true members. But unless it embraces them, it will be difficult to gain trust from the international community in this globalized world.
¡ß Measures Required to Secure Residential Rights
Wedlock between Korean men and foreign women increased steadily from around 7,300 in 2000 to over 19,000 in 2003 and more than 31,000 in 2005. The government and civic organizations have devised a variety of policies and programs designed to assist foreign wives, but their lives in Korea are still often harsh. The most serious problems stem from domestic violence.
Experts say foreign wives are defenseless in situations of spousal violence primarily because of their insecure qualifications for residence.
The status of migrant wives who have not secured Korean nationality, falling short of the two-year conjugal requirement, depends on their husbands. When they apply for Korean nationality, applications must be guaranteed by their husbands, who also exercise the right to apply for annual visa extensions. If migrant wives divorce before securing Korean nationality, they are deprived of their residential status. The Nationality Law allows migrant wives to apply for naturalization when domestic violence is proved. But it is difficult and time-consuming to prove such cases, thus putting them at the risk of eviction during that period.
It is necessary to stipulate provisions guaranteeing residence and economic activities for foreign wives during the periods in which measures are undertaken against damage from not only physical violence but also economic maltreatment and sexual abuse," said lawyer Soh Ra-mae.
¡ß Institutional Improvements and Support Programs Urgently Needed
According to a recent survey of 2,134 migrant wives in South Jeolla Province, 46.6 percent wanted to divorce. They cannot divorce, however, because of their children (66.9 percent), reasons that cannot be disclosed (13 percent) and lack of economic independence (4.9 percent). As the most difficult problems they encounter, they cited the language barrier (48 percent) and economic hardship (25 percent).
International marriage brokers are also responsible for the unhappiness experienced by migrant wives. A considerable number of Korean men pay large sums of money to brokers. "Some Korean husbands tend to regard their foreign wives as possessions they have bought with money and demand absolute obedience from them," said the head of a center for migrant wives.
Problems of migrant wives are wide-ranging and complicated, and the solutions offered by experts also vary.
Kwon Mee-joo, a director of the Women Migrants Human Rights Center, asserted, "We must urgently improve laws and institutions so that migrant wives may enjoy fair welfare services as members of our society even before they secure Korean nationality."
"Responses must take into account the regional characteristics of large and medium-sized cities and rural areas." said Kim Kyung-ah, the chief of the Multicultural Education Center at Honam University in Gwangju. "The regional community must be encouraged to accept multicultural families by offering programs through which they can play a constructive role in the regional community, rather than simply focusing on women migrants."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
