Two Russians stranded for months in a South Korean airport will be able to request asylum

First modification: 02/14/2023 – 16:36

With Nicolas Rocca, RFI correspondent in Seoul

Three Russians, who fled their country after being ordered to fight in Ukraine, have been denied entry into South Korea and the right to seek asylum. For two of them, the long wait is over and they will be able to find temporary refuge in South Korea.

“I can’t believe I’m finally getting out of here. After the court decision,” explains Andrei, as he calls himself, telling RFI his relief. When he landed in South Korea on October 14, he didn’t know he would have to wait four months at the airport before the authorities agreed to consider his asylum application.

The Incheon court on Tuesday forced the country’s immigration authorities to grant him a temporary visa so he could plead his case. The asylum process can take years.

When he arrived, the young man, like four of his compatriots, was denied entry. For the South Korean authorities, fleeing military service was not a valid reason for seeking asylum, especially considering that conscription is mandatory in South Korea. But most of them had already completed their year in the army, which enabled them to go directly to the Ukrainian front.

Of the three cases examined by the court on Tuesday, one was rejected.

“They came here to avoid killing innocent people and being killed in a war started by their country of origin. It took them four months to get the right to apply for refugee status,” he added, lamenting that the third Russian he represented had not been granted granted this right.

The man can appeal, but he will have to wait at the airport like two other Russians who are waiting for a decision on his fate at the end of the month. But they are not at the end of their long administrative road. In South Korea, only 1% of asylum applications are accepted.