NHRC Issues Recommendation to Minister of Justice to Reform the Entry Inspection System Applied to Non-Korean Nationals
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has decided to issue a recommendation to the Minister of Justice (MOJ) to institutionalize the guarantee for non-Korean nationals to exercise the right to contest decisions denying them permission to enter the country.
The case originated with a February 2003 petition lodged by Korean-Chinese A (age 20) who was denied entry permission because—during the entry inspection at Incheon International Airport—the interviewing immigration control official decided that his reasons for coming to Korea were inconsistent with his visa. The Commission undertook a policy review centering on two issues: first, concerns over arbitrariness in entry inspection for non-Korean nationals in the process of administering immigration controls, and second, whether the appeals procedure for non-nationals was reasonable.
Entry inspection of non-Korean nationals entering the country is grounded in the Immigration Control Act (article 12: clause 3), and usually involves examining whether the passport (or seaman’s pocketbook) is valid, the visa, whether the visa status is consistent with the purpose of entry, and whether any of the conditions—stipulated in the Immigration Control Act—for which entry should be prohibited are present.
The NHRC examination of the overall administration of immigration control found the following. In the current Immigration Control Act, its enforcement decree and related laws, there are no reasonable measures a non-national denied entry could take to contest such a decision. While two documents with no external binding force—the「Immigration Control Manual」 drafted as internal MOJ rules and the「Plan to Reform Entry Inspection Procedures」—do contain some procedures for re-inspection by regional immigration offices, nevertheless it would be difficult to see such measures as establishing propriety and impartiality to decisions to prohibit entry and second, they do not ensure non-Koreans predictability of outcomes when contesting such decisions.
Questioning the need to introduce an appeals system for non-Koreans denied entry, the MOJ expressed its opposition for the following reasons: the fact that entry is not a fundamental right for non-Korean nationals, that immoderate appeal of non-entry decisions would compromise administrative efficiency, that there is a strong probability that the decision-making process would take a long time for those non-Korean nationals who have immoderately appealed their cases, and such non-nationals immoderately appealing their cases would feel anxious about their status and with the long period awaiting exit, other kinds of human rights infringements could occur.
Nevertheless, the NHRC found that there was a need to ensure procedural propriety in entry inspection based on the following reasons. First, the right to appeal is not tantamount to endowing non-Korean nationals the「right」 to enter Korea but rather, to uphold their right to a fair inspection. Second, legislating new provisions allowing for appeal would increase the transparency and reasonableness of decisions prohibiting entry.
Thus, the NHRC issued a recommendation to the MOJ to institutionalize quick and accessible procedures to give non-nationals (who are denied entry) reasonable opportunity to realize their personal goals.
The Commission hopes that this recommendation will represent a good opportunity to strengthen the reasonableness of the entry inspection system as well as ensure non-nationals their rights. –End.
