South Korea Offers Work Permits to Burmese

Violet Cho
The Irrawaddy News
January 17, 2008

Some 2,000 people in Burma will soon be able to go to South Korea to work legally, due to the Korean government’s decision to offer working visas to foreign workers.

According to a source close to the South Korean embassy in Rangoon, an overseas job seeking agency, Shwe Innwa, has received permission from the military government to oversee the process in Burma.

Burmese workers who want to work in South Korea must fulfill certain criteria, according to Shwe Innwa. For example, they must be aged under 30 and pass a test in Korean language.

A source close to the Shwe Innwa agency said that, as a new project, they have not yet set the working arrangements and fees; however, previously, Burmese workers who wanted to work in South Korea had to pay brokers at least 5 million kyat (about US $4,000), which included finding jobs for them and travel arrangements.

There is a lot of competition between brokers in Rangoon, said a source close to Shwe Inwa, adding that most job seeking agencies were run by the families of military veterans.

Kyaw Zwa, a Burmese factory worker in South Korea, said, “The majority of Burmese people who get the opportunity to come here are military veterans’ children and those who have connections to the military.”

Kyaw Zwa claimed that brokers with offices in Burma and South Korea make huge profits from the overseas workers. “Brokers always ask workers to remit half of their salaries every month to them,” he said. “The brokers will deduct various fees, and then send the remaining money to the workers’ families that stay behind in Burma”

Burmese migrant workers in South Korea mostly work in plastics factories, noodle factories and carpentry and construction businesses. They generally have to work at least eight hours as day and they usually earn $700 to $800 per month, some 50 percent lower than South Korean workers.

According to South Korean immigration statistics, there are currently about 4,000 Burmese migrant workers in South Korea, about 700 of who are working illegally.

Although Burmese workers will have the opportunity to apply for legal working status in South Korea for the first time, observers fear that severe exploitation of migrant workers’ rights will be widespread if the overseas job seeking agencies fail to take responsibility and protect Burmese workers from unscrupulous employers.

Zaw Moe Aung, a senior member of the National League of Democracy—Liberated Area (South Korea), explained that Burmese migrant workers face many problems with Korean employers.

“Burmese workers were always ignored by the agency that brought them to South Korea,” he said. “The broker will not help them, even if they are underpaid or refused wages. They are also prohibited from seeking other employment unless they get permission from the first employer.”