Constitutional Court Rules Excluding 'Nanmininjeongja' from Emergency Disaster Relief Fund Unconstitutional

Constitutional Court: "Unjustified Discrimination Without Rational Reason Except for Recognized Refugees"

The Constitutional Court has ruled that excluding ‘recognized refugees’ from the recipients of emergency disaster relief funds aimed at recovering from the economic impact of COVID-19 is unconstitutional.

On the 28th, the Constitutional Court delivered a unanimous decision declaring unconstitutional the government’s “Standards for Household Composition and Objection Handling for Emergency Disaster Relief Funds (2nd phase),” issued by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, in a constitutional review case.

In May 2020, the government announced the standards for household composition and objection handling for emergency disaster relief funds. These standards specified that households composed solely of foreigners could receive the emergency disaster relief funds if permanent residents or marriage immigrants were insured under the national health insurance system, dependents, or medical aid recipients, just like Korean nationals.

Applicant A, who had been recognized as a refugee, applied for the emergency disaster relief funds at the local community center in May 2020 but was informed that they were not eligible. A argued that excluding ‘households composed solely of foreigners’ except for permanent residents and marriage immigrants from the relief fund recipients violated the equality rights and the right to a dignified life of recognized refugees, and filed a constitutional complaint.

The Constitutional Court stated, “Permanent residents and marriage immigrants legally reside in Korea for the purpose of permanent or long-term residence, and recognized refugees also legally reside in Korea under the obligation of non-refoulement, receive protection from Korea, and are not restricted in employment activities. Therefore, there is no significant difference between recognized refugees and permanent residents or marriage immigrants.” The Court further judged, “There is no significant financial difficulty in providing emergency disaster relief funds to recognized refugees, and administrative reasons such as difficulty in proving family relationships cannot be considered reasonable grounds for excluding recognized refugees from the relief fund recipients.”

Furthermore, the Court ruled, “Including permanent residents and marriage immigrants among foreigners eligible for emergency disaster relief funds while excluding recognized refugees constitutes discrimination without reasonable grounds. Therefore, the standards in this case violate the applicant’s right to equality.”