This is an emergency statement issued on 16 August 2021 by the Refugee Rights Network Korea, a coalition of organizations that support refugees in Korea. It calls on the Korean government to protect local Afghan staff who assisted Korean operations and who now face danger following the Taliban’s return to power, and to immediately halt any forced departures of Afghan nationals already staying in Korea.

Background

The Taliban’s Takeover of Afghanistan

Just four months after the United States announced its withdrawal from Afghanistan in April 2021, the Taliban rapidly seized control of major cities across the country. As of 15 August 2021, the Afghan government held only the capital, Kabul, and was in the middle of power-transfer talks with the Taliban. In effect, the Taliban had already taken Kabul.

The Humanitarian Crisis

The takeover triggered a massive wave of displacement. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), roughly 250,000 people had been forced from their homes inside Afghanistan alone between late May and August 2021, 80% of them women and children. The cumulative number of displaced people from earlier in the year reached approximately 400,000, and there were already 2.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) inside Afghanistan as of the end of 2020. UNHCR called on governments worldwide to keep borders open, guarantee access to asylum procedures, and uphold the principle of non-refoulement (the rule that no one may be sent back to a place where their life or safety is at serious risk).

Korea’s Involvement in Afghanistan and the Risk to Local Staff

Korea’s Deployment History

Korea first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002 with the Dongeui and Dasan units. From 11 May 2010 to 23 June 2014, Korea also ran a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Parwan Province, Afghanistan, alongside the Oshino unit, which supported NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

During this period, the Korean government hired a number of Afghan nationals as interpreters, medical staff, and office workers. The exact total was never made public.

Why Local Staff Were at Risk

The Taliban regards Afghan civilians who assisted foreign governments or troop-contributing nations as traitors. According to a report by the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch, the Taliban publicly denied targeting such people, but verified cases showed that civilians suspected of working for the Afghan government or foreign organizations were in fact being hunted down and killed. On 11 August 2021, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that hundreds of Afghans who had worked for Korean organizations were reaching out to the Korean government, pleading: “The Taliban is after me — please help.”

How Other Countries Responded, and Past Criticism of Korea

Steps Taken by Other Troop-Contributing Nations

Countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Germany had all established special visa programs or refugee resettlement schemes to protect their Afghan local staff.

  • United States: The Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program offered visas to Afghan staff and their families, allowing them to enter the US.
  • New Zealand: In 2013, it invited 30 Afghan interpreters and supported their resettlement.
  • UK, Australia, Germany, Netherlands: All had similar special procedures in place or under preparation.

Criticism After the 2014 PRT Withdrawal

When Korea withdrew its PRT in 2014, the government did not put any protective measures in place for the local Afghan staff it had employed, drawing criticism from civil society groups at the time. The Taliban’s return to power brought this unresolved issue back into the spotlight.

The Statement’s Core Demands

Support for Local Staff (Demand 1)

The Korean government must immediately identify and locate interpreters and other local workers who served with the PRT or related organizations, along with their families, and issue them visas so they can evacuate to Korea. The statement called for concrete procedures, including a system allowing applications to be submitted through Korean embassies in Afghanistan or in neighboring countries.

Protection for Afghans Already in Korea (Demand 2)

Until the situation on the ground genuinely improves, the Korean government must immediately stop all forced deportations of Afghan nationals, release anyone held in immigration detention facilities, and extend their permission to stay.

This demand rested on a precedent set by the Korean government itself: after the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, Korea had halted forced departures of Myanmar nationals, released those held in immigration detention, and extended their permission to stay.

What Happened Afterward

About ten days after the statement was published, between 24 and 26 August 2021, the Korean government carried out Operation Miracle, dispatching three military transport aircraft to Afghanistan and neighboring countries. On 26 August 2021, 390 Afghans — people who had worked at the Korean Embassy, a Korean hospital, and a vocational training center, together with their families — arrived in Korea. The government designated them as “special contributors” under Article 14-2 of the Act on the Treatment of Foreigners in Korea.

However, once they arrived, the settlement support system was not sufficiently prepared, and civil society groups have continued to raise concerns about this ever since.

Organizations That Signed the Statement

The statement was issued jointly by 29 member organizations and 4 associate member organizations of the Refugee Rights Network Korea (as of 14 July 2021).

Member organizations (in Korean alphabetical order):

TFC (The First Contact for Refugee), APIL (Advocates for Public Interest Law), Donghaeng (Solidarity with Public Interest Lawyers), Public Interest Corporation Jeong, GONG-GAM Human Rights Law Foundation, Public Interest and Human Rights Center DREAM, Refuge Korea (Pinancho), Global Hope, Refugee Rights Center Korea, Dongducheon Refugee Community, Dongjakfm, Minbyun International Solidarity Committee (Lawyers for a Democratic Society), Law Firm Duru, Seoul OnDream Education Center, Suwon Global Dream Center, Suncheon Migrant Support Center, Friends of Asia, MAP (Migration to Asia Peace), ECOFEMME (Cultural and Economic Community for Migrant Women), GAMDONG (Migrant Support Public Interest Center), Uijeongbu EXODUS, Miguide (Migrant Support Center Chingu), Naomi (Catholic Diocese of Jeju Migration Pastoral Center), Dongcheon Foundation, Hwawoo Public Interest Foundation, Jeju Peace and Human Rights Institute WhatZ, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), Paju EXODUS, Korea Migrant Human Rights Center

A note for those who need help: For the most up-to-date and accurate information about visa status, stays of deportation, or how to apply for refugee status, please contact the Immigration Contact Center (1345) or your local Korea Immigration Service office directly.