REFUGEES ON JEJUDO ISLAND

[Anchor Lead]

For our local news today, we take you to Jejudo Island where some 500 Yemeni refugees landed last year, making news headlines. Following the incident, the government announced to prepare policy measures on the refugee issue, but even after a year, little progress has been made.

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​With rubber gloves on, these workers do the dishes, take out fish from the fridge and skillfully prepare them. They are Yemeni refugees who arrived in Jejudo last spring and have been allowed to stay in Korea on humanitarian grounds. Around 130 of them reside on the island. Just two out of the 500 Yemenis who came here last year were granted refugee status. Most received permission for humanitarian stay as they can face danger if they return home. But this residential permit needs to be extended every year.

[Soundbite] (REFUGEE GRANTED HUMANITARIAN STAY) : "After four months, I have to go to the immigration office again to renew my visa. I don't want to get any surprise."

It's been a year since they arrived but Korea's refugee policies are still at a standstill. Last June, the government promised to increase the number of officials tasked with refugee deliberations, designed to determine real refugees and to better protect them. So far, the workforce has increased from 39 to 81 nationwide but it's still not enough. As a result, there is little progress with the nearly 20-thousand refugee deliberation cases received from 90 or so countries.

[Soundbite] KIM JEONG-DO(MINISTRY OF JUSTICE) : "When deliberations pick up speed and officials' skills advance, the situation will improve."

The government also vowed to revise related laws to prevent refugee applicants from taking advantage of the system. But progress has been slow. Plans to open a refugee appeals board to streamline and speed up objection procedures raised by applicants are also stagnant due to delayed discussions among related agencies.