Nepali union leader lands in Korean jail as authorities crackdown on 'illegal' migrant workers

A Nepali national who is a leading voice of thousands of "illegal" workers in South Korea has become the first person to be arrested in a crackdown started against them by the state authorities from May 1, Kantipur Daily reports.

Through the operation, the authorities mean to arrest foreigners working in the country without working visas and deport them back to their countries.

Torna Limbu, the president of Foreign Workers Union, was arrested on May 2 and has been kept in a prison facility meant for foreigners outside the capital Seoul.

Both Korean and Nepali workers have announced phase-wise protest and demonstration programs to press the government for the release of Limbu The newly elected South Korean President Lee Meung Wak has vowed in public that foreign illegal workers would be flushed out of the country even by using force.

There's little possibility that Limbu would be released, say people abreast with the country's labor law.

The Daily's Seoul correspondent reported that foreigners without working visas are spending sleepless nights and looking for a safe hideout due to fears of being apprehended by authorities during the operation that would last till the end of July.

Earlier in December, former president of FWU Kajiman Limbu and vice president Raju Gurung were deported subsequently after their arrest by the Korean immigration. Toran had then taken over the vacant post.

Former president Kajiman had been arrested while he was participating in a demonstration organized against the new law that was about to be introduced by the Korean government. The current president Toran was arrested while participating in a "candle rally" organized to protest the import of American beef in Korea.

Saying that Toran Limbu was arrested by the Korean immigration without showing any arrest warrant, workers and rights activists have taken to the streets.

Some 6 thousand Nepalis live in South Korea and more than 90 percent of them are laborers. Most of them don't have working visas. nepalnews.com ag May 07 08