Text Fwd: Immigration raid fatalities 이주 노동자 급습 치명타들

Hankyoreh
Immigration raid fatalities
Dec. 7, 2010

Michel Catuira, president of the Migrants’ Trade Union in South Korea, sits among large portraits of migrant workers who died during crackdowns and deportations by the police. The portraits were displayed in an auditorium of the Korean Confederation of Trade Union’s Metropolitan Chapter, Seoul, Dec. 5.

The portraits include details about the cause and process through which the migrant workers reached their tragic death through police crackdowns, which have strengthened in intensity and violence since 2003.

In Catuira’s hands is the portrait of 35-year-old Vietnamese migrant worker Trinh Cong Quan. On Oct. 29, several days prior to the G-20 Summit in Seoul, immigration officers raided a clothing factory where Quan was working in the Gasan neighborhood of Seoul without presenting a warrant. Quan found himself trapped and tried to escape through a window on the second floor. He fell to the ground, and sustained serious head injuries. He was carried to the hospital, but died on Nov. 3.

His wife returned to her hometown in Vietnam holding their four-month baby and his remains.

Dec. 18 is International Migrants Day, designated by the General Assembly of United Nations.

Catuira said, “I hope that Quan is the last victim of the South Korean government’s vicious crackdown on undocumented migrants.”

Reference: http://migrant.nodong.net/?document_srl=54504#26

(Photo by Kim Bong-kyu)