At a time when a large number of youth are scrambling to get a job in South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS), a report of a reputed rights based organization has painted a bleak picture of the country’s migrant workers’ rights situation.

Releasing its report on ‘Bitter Harvest: Exploitation and Forced Labor of Migrant Agricultural Workers in South Korea’ across the world, including Kathmandu, on Monday, Amnesty International (AI) said that South Korea’s farming industry is rife with abuse and exploitation. Amnesty International has also urged the South Korean government to end exploitation and widespread use of forced labor.



Police baton-charge aspiring migrant workers to control them at Chyasal, Lalitpur, in this August 13 photo. The aspirants were at the collection center to submit their EPS forms. (Bijay Rai/Republica )

It is estimated that there are 20,000 migrant agricultural workers in South Korea. Most of them are from countries like Cambodia, Nepal and Vietnam.  They are sourced under the EPS system. 

The report has come at a time when thousands of Nepali youth are vying to reach South Korea under EPS system. Out of total 62,514 applicants for EPS 2014, 3,663 aspiring youth passed the test conducted recently.  Among them, 895 applicants, or 3.2 per cent, have passed the test for agricultural sector.  According to EPS Nepal, the selected workers could leave for South Korea by January next year.

“The EPS is heavily loaded in favor of employers, leaving migrants trapped and vulnerable to abuse. Agricultural workers, of which many are migrant workers, are excluded from key legal protections afforded to most of the country’s workforce,” reads the report. 

According to the AI, the report is based on interviews with migrant agricultural workers in 10 cities of South Korea along with NGOs, trade unions, labor lawyers and employers. In its report, AI has also recommended to the South Korean government to remove all restrictions on the number of job changes allowed to EPS workers as well permit all EPS workers to change jobs without having to obtain a release from their employer. “Where EPS workers have filed a complaint against their employer, they must be free to take up another job while their case is being investigated,” stated the recommendation of the report.

The report has also quoted a Nepali woman who wanted to change the job but feared to do so due to the restriction for the change of employer in the contract. “Previously, two other work colleagues couldn’t take the abuse anymore so when the boss told them to leave, they did. As soon as they left, the boss called immigration and reported them as runaways so they are irregular. I am afraid the same will happen to me so although I am frightened and stressed out by this situation,” the report quoted the 29-year-old woman as saying.

According to Pratap Paudel, vice-president of Amnesty International Nepal, the report has revealed the abuses and exploitation that goes unnoticed in South Korea, particularly in the agricultural sector, which is otherwise considered a lucrative destination for Nepali workers. “This report is a wake-up call for the government to take action to end the forced labor and exploitation,” he added.

Published on: 21 October 2014 | Republica