bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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 Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:57 am Post subject: Visa rule to be challenged in court next week. |
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http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/06/117_46121.html
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[Exclusive] Teachers to Go to Court Over Visa Rule
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
A group of human rights lawyers plan to file a petition with the Constitutional Court against what they call discriminatory visa rules that require foreign English teachers to submit documents on health checks and criminal records.
Chang Suh-yeon, an attorney with the Korean Public Interest Lawyers Group ``Gong-Gam,'' told The Korea Times Tuesday that her group will take the issue to the court this week or next.
``The visa law violated the Constitution that guarantees a basic right to freedom, equal treatment, the pursuit of happiness and the protection of privacy,'' Chang said.
``The visa law is based on vague prejudice and bias that foreign English teachers have disordered sex lives and use drugs,'' she added.
Under the immigration law, applicants for an E-2 English teaching visa have been required to submit documents on criminal records and health checks since December 2007 after the arrest in Thailand of pedophile suspect Christopher Neil, who had once taught children in Korea.
A foreign teachers group has already filed complaints with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), claiming the visa regulations were discriminatory.
The human right agency plans to hold a public hearing on the issue late this month in order to finalize an official position as early as July.
``A subcommittee consisting of three members will rule on the complaint. If there are conflicts among the panel members, the petition will be forwarded to a larger committee consisting of 11 members,'' said Lee Sung-taek, an official of the state agency.
If it backs the foreign teachers group, it is likely to push the Ministry of Justice to revise the related law and also influence future rulings by the Constitutional Court.
E-2 visa holders have contended that the government should apply the same visa screening rules to foreign English teachers holding other visas, urging the government to use the same restrictions on teachers holding E-1 (professorship), F-2 (spouse of a Korean) or F-4 (ethnic Korean) visas. They made it clear that they don't oppose background checks as a rule....... |
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