Military aircraft with Afghan evacuees arrives in South Korea
Military aircraft with nearly 400 evacuated Afghans arrived in Soul, where the government said it was amending the law to allow long-term stays for those who worked on South Korean projects in Afghanistan before the Taliban seized power.
Justice Minister, Park Beom-kye said, “Many Koreans had received international support after having had to flee during the Korean War, from 1950 to 1953.
“Now it is time for us to return the favour.”
Two flights were to bring in 391 people, including the families of workers at the Korean embassy, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a hospital and Korean government-run vocational training institute and military bases.
According to Park, the government was in the process of amending immigration laws to grant the Afghans long-term residency as foreigners who had provided special service to the country.
He acknowledged controversy over the plan, saying the decision to accept the Afghan evacuees had been difficult but South Korea could not give up on its friends.
“Despite the fact that we are physically apart in a distant country, they were practically our neighbours.
“How could we possibly turn a blind eye to them when their lives are at risk because of the fact that they worked with us.”
South Korea has accepted more than 30,000 North Korean defectors over the years, but it approves a much smaller number of asylum seekers from other countries.
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Kamila/Reuters
