S. Korea faces abuse complaints from migrant workers

Number of cases rising as country increasingly relies on foreign workers

- Wendy Teo

SEOUL - Six months after he started work at an agricultural machinery factory in South Korea in 2021, Mr Ajit Roy, who is from Bangladesh, started having a severe cough that would not go away.

His work at the factory in Anseong city, an hour's drive from Seoul, required him to sand down metal parts for more than eight hours a day, and he was provided with only a cotton mask as protection.

The industrial practice for such a task usually includes hearing protection, safety glasses, a face shield, gloves and flame-resistant clothing.

When Mr Roy finally sought medical attention at a hospital in Seoul after his symptoms became worse and he had trouble breathing, he was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease — an ailment commonly associated with extended exposure to hazardous particles.

The disease causes lung damage that is often irreversible and worsens over time.

After undergoing surgery, Mr Roy is now left with only 60 per cent lung function. He is unable to work and remains in South Korea for treatment. He has been told that the life expectancy for patients like him is four years from diagnosis if he does not undergo treatment.

He is receiving shelter at a church which takes care of his living and medical expenses. In return, he helps to interpret for other migrant workers in need.

Mr Roy, now 39, is among the growing number of foreign workers in South Korea who are helping to plug the country's labour shortfall caused largely by an ageing population and falling birth rates.

The foreign workers take on low-paid manual jobs in labour-intensive industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and fisheries that are shunned by locals.

But as the number of foreign workers rise — with the yearly quota for new work permits for such workers more than doubling from 60,000 in 2022 to 165,000 in 2024 — a growing number of cases of migrant worker abuse such as that faced by Mr Roy are also coming to light.