"Just Come to Korea and Apply for Refugee Status"…Three African Refugee Brokers Arrested

False Invitations to Burundian and Ethiopian Nationals to Induce Asylum Applications
Received Fees Ranging from 680,000 to 5,000,000 KRW Per Person

A group that falsely invited people from African countries such as Burundi and Ethiopia to South Korea to induce them to apply for refugee status has been apprehended.

On the 13th, the Ministry of Justice's Incheon Airport Immigration Office announced that they had arrested Burundi national A (male, 40) and Korean national B (male, 64), who acted as brokers in this scheme. A was detained and sent to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office on the 8th for violating the Immigration Control Act, while B and three others were sent without detention. In June, four Koreans including C (male, 28), who falsely invited a total of 40 Ethiopians, were sent without detention, and a warrant was issued for D (male, 33), who played an intermediary role in Ethiopia, placing him on the wanted list.

They are suspected of receiving money in exchange for guiding people from African countries to first obtain short-term visas for business purposes to visit South Korea, and then, when their entry is denied due to failure to prove the purpose of entry, instructing them to apply for refugee status.

According to the investigation by the Incheon Airport Immigration Office, false inviter B received 5 million won from A, an employee of an electrical parts manufacturing company previously operated by B, in exchange for falsely inviting 10 Burundians including A’s spouse. Although A was not recognized as a refugee in Korea, he was granted 'humanitarian stay permission' due to recognized humanitarian reasons.

In the case of C, he created a paper company and falsely invited a total of 17 Ethiopians under the condition of receiving 500 dollars per Ethiopian invited from D, an Ethiopian broker residing in Korea. Particularly, when C could no longer invite under his own name, he involved three others, including his cohabitant and friends, by creating paper companies and promising 250,000 won per Ethiopian invited. Through them, an additional 23 Ethiopians were falsely invited.

An official from the Incheon Airport Immigration Office stated, "We expect cases of false invitations of Africans aiming for illegal employment and refugee applications in Korea to continue increasing," and added, "We will expand investigations into brokers and inviters involved in false invitations and request overseas diplomatic missions to strengthen visa issuance screening."