Some workers arrested have been deported to their home countries and others are being kept at detention centers for lack of legal documents in their possession.
Most of the Nepalis, who have been over-staying their visas, are taking refuge at religious and labor shelters. Following the arrests, a sizable number of workers are also quitting their jobs and going into hiding to avoid the police.
Contrary to widespread expectation that the Korean government would begin its crackdown in October or November, it has intensified measures to take illegal migrants under control. The government had announced its plan to clean up illegal migration and requested the workers to voluntarily return to their home countries before the crackdown.
Migrant workers have become terrified as security personnel are picking up suspected migrants from their lodgings and from public roads. According to David Rai, president of Nepali Coordination Committee of Korea, reports of Nepalis being arrested have been coming every day. “Most Nepali workers have not revealed their names as they fear being deported immediately,” said Rai.
On Thursday alone, three Nepalis including a pregnant woman were arrested while returning from shopping after their day´s work. “We have asked the Korean government to allow the pregnant woman to remain in Korea,” said Rai.
Three days before her arrest, three other Nepali women were cornered in Seoul. About 11 Nepalis were also arrested from two cities near Seoul earlier this week. It is likewise reported that some other Nepalis have been netted in other industrial cities.
Rai said most of the arrests were made not at work places but at lodgings and public places, which is against the prevailing practice in Korea. Some of the women workers are pregnant and ill.
South Korea has set out a plan to crack down in October and November against foreign workers overstaying their visas. With the fresh move by Korea, it is expected that more than 3,000 Nepalis will be forced to leave Korea immediately.
Local human rights groups have shown concern over possible violation of human rights and suppression of foreign workers in the name of flushing them out.
The Ministry of Law in Korea had designated this month as a period for ´voluntary exit´ by foreign workers and asked them to leave the country before the government initiates action against them.
The Korean government has also taken a firm decision to impose a penalty of US$ 1,700 and suspend permission for three years from employers hiring illegal migrants. About half the estimated 7,000 Nepalis living in Korea are overstaying their visas.
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