Hearing on detention of illegal migrants to be held

Protesters condemn human rights violations at detention centers on Feb. 10 in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul. [YONHAP]

The constitutional court is set to hold a public hearing next month on whether the indefinite detention of unauthorized immigrants is unconstitutional.

According to a report in the JoongAng Ilbo, an Egyptian arrived in Korea on a B2 tourism visa in July 2018, and was allowed a stay of 30 days maximum.

After arriving, the Egyptian applied for refugee status, but that was denied because the person was a minor.

Immigration officials caught the person, whose gender hasn't been stated, on the street in Anseong, Gyeonggi in October 2018.

The Suwon Immigration Office issued a deportation order and a detention order. The latter was done under Article 63 (1) of the Immigration Act, which stipulates the Commissioner of a Regional Immigration Service may intern a person in any internment facility until his or her repatriation is possible if it is impossible to immediately repatriate the person. The Egyptian was sent to the detention center for foreigners who are about to leave the country.

The Egyptian filed a request for temporary release from detention through a legal representative for humanitarian reasons and was released. But the person then challenged the fact that there was no limit to the period of detention at the center.

In January 2019, the Egyptian filed an administrative lawsuit with the Suwon District Court to cancel the deportation and detention orders, and in November 2019, filed a suit with the court challenging the constitutionality of Article 63 (1).

In July 2020, the Suwon District Court recommended the Constitutional Court take the case.

“Enabling indefinite detention by not setting an upper limit on the period of detention violates the principle of excess prohibition and restricts the freedom of the body,” said Lee Jeong-kwon, a judge in the administration department of the Suwon District Court.

“The detention of foreigners is equivalent to 'arrest or restraint,' but is not subject to a warrant requirement, and since immigration officials and not those in objective and neutral positions examine the detention, there is good reason to admit that it is unconstitutional,” Lee added.

According to the Ministry of Justice, 828 foreign nationals are detained in two immigration centers in Korea and 27 immigration offices as of Wednesday. Most of them are said to be illegal immigrants whose stays in Korea have expired.

After an undocumented Moroccan immigrant suffered torture-like treatment at the Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center in Gyeonggi in September last year, the Justice Ministry is pushing for an alternative detention facility.

The Constitutional Court will hold a public hearing on the constitutionality of Article 63 (1) of the Immigration Act at 2 p.m. on Oct. 13.

Representatives from the Ministry of Justice, which manages the immigration detention center, and the Egyptian immigrant will attend the hearing.

In both 2016 and 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that the article was constitutional.

BY SHIM SEOK-YONG, SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]