Nine out of every ten foreign crewmembers on South Korean deep-sea fishing boats have suffered foul and abusive language from South Koreans, a study showed. More than 40% were also found to have experienced physical abuse.
A report into the human rights situation for migrant workers in the fishing industry was released on Oct. 2 by the Hanyang University Institute of Globalization and Multicultural Studies, based on a study commissioned by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.
According to the report, all but eleven of the 169 foreign crewmembers who responded to the questionnaire, or 93.5%, said they had heard abusive language and cursing.
A total of 42.6% of respondents said they had experienced physical violence.
The foreign crewmembers also reported poor working conditions. Respondents said they had to fish for an average of 13.9 hours per day, with 49.4% saying they had to work seven days a week.
Their treatment was as poor as their labor was arduous. Average wages for respondents were just 1.1 million (US$989) a month, with 46.7% saying even this amount was not paid on time.
A mere 16.1% of respondents said they had a labor contract written in their native language, instead of in Korean. The National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (Suhyup), which is meant to oversee foreign crewmembers, was also found to have failed to provide any staff members capable of communicating with them in their languages.
Recruitment payments by foreign sailors to management firms to be able to work on South Korean fishing boats were found to be far higher than the regulated amount. Suhyup dictates that Vietnamese sailors cannot pay a dispatch payment of more than US$2,700, but the amount revealed by the questionnaire was US$11,379, more than four times higher. Indonesian and Chinese crewmembers were likewise found to be paying 1.5 to three times the prescribed amount.
They came into the country in debt from excessive recruitment payments, with interest on top of their principal, but their earnings here have failed to meet their expectations, said an NHRCK official. It appears that the foreign workers naturally end up wanting to escape.
The NHRCK plans to hold a policy debate on Oct. 4 to devise policy proposals, including adding terms to the Seafarers Act to bar discrimination between South Korean and foreign workers and stipulate equal treatment.
2012 The Hankyoreh Media Company