In alternating lifeboats : Filipino asylum-seekers as ‘Voluntary Denizens’ in South Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper is an exploratory study on the encounters of Filipino asylum-seekers in South Korea – understanding their experiences during application as refugees, their motivations, and the ways through which they negotiate their privileges as asylum-seekers in the country. Largely anchored on Bryan Turner’s Denizenship Theory, this paper contends that Filipino asylum-seekers have been compelled to become ‘voluntary denizens’ in South Korea – a country which is unable to provide them secured living arrangements but, nevertheless, deemed to be able to attend to the responsibilities they carried with them from the Philippines. At once, this situation has turned them into denizens in the South Korea while remaining to be citizens in their home countries.

Following through Garret Hardin’s concept of the Lifeboat Ethics, South Korea and the Philippines could be viewed as two separate big boats which the Filipino asylum-seekers, as lifeboat passengers, alternate between. Due to the limited capacity of the Korean boat, Filipino asylum-seekers had to become tolerant and accepting of the partial privileges they receive as they sojourn along the legal margins of the accepting country which, most probably, will remain eternally a foreign land to them.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

본 논문은 필리핀 망명희망자들의 한국과의 만남에 대한 탐구적인 연구로서 난민신청 기간 중의 경험과 동기, 그리고 한국에서 망명희망자로서의 특권을 협상하는 방법을 이해하기 위한 것이다. 브라이언 터너의 주민권 이론(Denizenship Theory)에 바탕을 두고 있는 이 논문은 필리핀 망명자들이 한국에서 '자발적 거주자’ (voluntary denizens')가 되도록 강요당했다고 주장한다. 즉, 한국은 그들에게 안전한 생활 기반을 제공할 수는 없지만, 그럼에도 불구하고, 그들이 본국으로부터 가지고 온 책임에 따를 수 있다고 여긴다. 이 상황은 곧, 그들이 그들의 고국에서는 시민으로 남아있는 반면에 한국에서는 한국거주자가 되게 만들었다.

가렛 하딘의 구명보트 윤리 (Lifeboat Ethics)의 개념에 따르면 필리핀 망명자들은 두 개의 큰 배를 번갈아 가며 이용하는 구명보트 승객으로 볼 수 있다. 한국 배의 제한된 수용력 때문에, 필리핀망명자들은 그들을 받아들이는 국가의 법적여지에 따라 그들이 받는 부분적인 특권을 이해하고 받아들여야 했으나, 그들에게 그 나라는 영원히 낯선 외국 땅으로 남게 될 것으로 보인다.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• I. Introduction 1
• 1. Research Questions 3
• 2. Statement of Scope and Purpose 5
• II. Review of Related Literature 8
• 1. Theoretical Framework: Denizenship Theory and Membership Theory 8
• 2. Methodology and Data Collection 13
• III. Creating a ‘Multicultural’ Korea 15
• 1. Creating a Society that is Accepting of the Other 15
• 2. Filipinos in South Korea 17
• IV. South Korea’s System on Refugees and Asylum-Seeking 23
• 1. Adoption of the Refugee Act 23
• 2. Asylum seeking and the Humanitarian Visa 25
• V. Through the Eyes of Filipino Asylum-seekers: Results and Discussion 33
• 1. Perceptions on Being a G-1-5 Visa Holder—Partial Legality and Acknowledgment of One’s Ineligibility 34
• 2. Korea’s Miscellaneous Visa – A “Ticket” to Safety 40
• 1.) Brokerage – Availing for an Investment 45
• 2.) Intense Narratives – Passes to a Lifeboat Ride 47
• 3. Negotiating Privileges 50
• 1.) Privilege of Employment 50
• 2.) Privilege of Unrestricted Mobility 52
• 3.) Privilege of Access to Information 55
• VI. Conclusion 57
• Appendices 61
• A. Questionnaire for G-1-5 Visa Holders 61
• B. Refugee Travel Document 64
• Bibliography 65