TAIPIEI, TAIWAN – The South Korean County of Yeongyang said that he planned to accept myanmar refugees from the second half of this year to tackle the decline in its population.
South Korea has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world and its population of 51 million inhabitants should be half at the end of the century.
Yeongyang, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) of Seoul in the north of the province of Gyeongsang in the east of the country, has the smallest population of all the counties of South Korea, excluding the islands, with around 15,000 residents.
To invent his number, Yeongyang works with the High Commissioner of the United Nations refugees on a plan to accept certain members of the Karen ethnic minority, who represent around 6.5% of the population of Myanmar.
Many Karen in eastern Myanmar have been moved for decades of fighting between an insurgent force of Karen in search of self -determination and the Myanmar army. About 100,000 Karen has lived for years in camps on the Thai side of the border with Myanmar.
Yeongyang said that he would initially accept 10 families, totaling around 40 people, from the second half of this year, but added that he was still discussing details with the South Korean government.
According to the county, it is planned to convert unused buildings, such as old schools, in residential spaces to accommodate myanmar people.
Other initiatives aimed at increasing the population of Yeongyang include the encouragement of family members and relatives to record their addresses in the county and to offer incentives to childbirth up to 100 million South Korean won (US $ 69,000).
The largest group of refugees in South Korea
Myanmar nationals constitute the largest group of officially recognized refugees in South Korea, 474 people granted refugee status, in 2024, the Ministry of Justice.
In addition, 55 Myanmar nationals, although indicated in refugee status, obtained humanitarian residence permits due to the risk of persecution or damage if they are rendered in their country of origin.
Among the 122,095 asylum applications filed in South Korea by foreign nationals from all countries, 94,391 cases have been treated, while 27,704 remain pending.
The most common reasons for the research of asylum included political persecution, religious beliefs and belonging to specific social groups. However, 42% of the requests were rejected because they did not meet the criteria under the refugee convention, including cases based on economic difficulties or private threats.
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The Karen people, many of whom are Christians, faced decades of persecution and conflict.
The National Union of Karen, the oldest insurgent force of ethnic minorities in Myanmar, took up arms to fight for autonomy shortly after Myanmar, then known as Burma, obtained the independence of Great Britain in 1948.
After a military coup in 2021 in Myanmar, the junta intensified the attacks on the regions of Karen with air strikes, forced displacement and other abuses, according to rights defense groups.
Edited by Mike Firn.