Jesuit-run migrant workers center marks 20 years of service in South Korea

A Jesuit-run migrant workers center completed 20 years of service in South Korea on April 13.

The Yiutsari Migrant Workers Center, run by the Jesuits of the South Korean Province, marked its 20th anniversary, highlighting its contribution to migrants’ welfare.

Jesuit Father Kim Min, chair of the province's social apostolate committee, said the Jesuits in Korea founded the Yiutsari Migrant Workers Center and other facilities providing social services, particularly for migrant workers and refugees, and maintain alive and well their advocacy work.

He claims that social justice in South Korea reflects the particularity of Korean history. Evolving with the development of the nation's economic might, the Korean Catholic Church, which was a church for the impoverished after the Korean War until the 1980s, expanded.

Recently meeting in Seoul, the Jesuit Conference Asia Pacific's Migrants and Refugees Network (MRN) spent a day touring the Yiutsari Migrant Workers Center, where members of the MRN engaged with migrant workers and their families during the Sunday Mass celebration and bonded over a specially prepared meal.

They also went to the shelter where male migrant workers dwell until they get back on their feet. Remembering the idea of hospitality and reconciliation, MRN members strive to create a future with migrants and refugees.

Among the four-day conference's highlights was a trip to Yiutsari Migrant Workers Center, which doubles as a shelter for those in need and a community center for migrant workers and their families.

Father Juchan planned a day for the attendees to see Shelter No. 2, where Filipino, Myanmarese, and Nepalese migrant laborers graciously welcomed them into their homes.

Juchan explained the labor in more depth, saying, "Migrant laborers are the most vulnerable; they come and go like seasonal birds. We wish to reduce their obstacles.

Apart from offering food and housing, they also offer language courses, labor law advice, health care assistance, community support, and cultural events for everyone visiting the center.

The attendees also interacted with South Korean resettled Myanmar and Afghan refugees. These men and women told their tales of survival and their wish to live freely and peacefully in a society that lets them exist with equal rights and dignity—not just for themselves but especially for their children.

Father Juchan presided over the Mass on the last Sunday of March with Jesuit Father Julio Sousa from Timor-Leste and Deacon Shane Liesegang, an American studying in the Philippines living in Arrupe International Residence.

A genuinely worldwide crowd filled the first floor of the centre. Singing in their mother languages—whether Filipino, Khmer, Vietnamese, or Tetum—the congregation sensed familiarity despite the main usage of English. For once, language was not a barrier—not with music, plenty of laughter, and food to close any distances.

Several speakers at the meeting whose personal experiences and technical knowledge provided not just insight and understanding but also greater compassion and a closer connection for the attendees were also present.

Methodist pastor and chairman of the Northeast Asia peace Initiative, a Christian forum for peace, Pastor Kim Jongho recounted his experience of hospitality.

Usually seen as a welcome of guests or visitors with food, drink, and lodging, Pastor Kim defines hospitality rather as "an act of giving oneself, crossing boundaries, and opening one's heart."

Pastor Kim claims that hospitality is risky since it lets others' suffering into one's life. Pain unites everyone and exposes us to the experience of another, hence generating solidarity rather than separation. Given a society characterized by growing mobility and division, it is crucial to include a culture of hospitality into our daily life. Pastor Kim remarked, "Hospitality is contagious," urging its practice.

Dr. Hwang Pillkyu, Executive Director of the GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation, spoke about the difficult situations migrants and refugees in Korea confront, particularly on human rights in light of the unfavorable views of migrants and refugees in Korean society.

Speaking on his study on migrant workers in Korea, where five percent of the entire population includes foreign nationals, graduate student Son Keon-ung, a representative of the Eunpyeong Foreign Residents Center,

Mr. Son claims that despite the many obstacles they encounter in a country far from becoming multicultural, migrant workers have the proactive drive to survive and grow.

Presented from inside the network, Gading Gumilang Putra's talk on Dignitas Infinita, the Vatican's latest statement on human dignity framed with a rights-based perspective, offered a clear and enlightening reflection on the work with migrants and refugees.

Among the subjects discussed was an update from Jesuit Fr. Joe Hampson, regional director of Jesuit Refugee Service Asia Pacific (JRS AP), and Kunanyaporn Jirasamatakij, who oversees JRS AP's communication and advocacy, on how funding cuts are significantly impacting JRS's work, which includes education, employment, health and mental health support, and emergency assistance. Examining the institutional and human tolls of these difficulties is rather distressing.

All people who belong to MRN share a hopefulness notwithstanding the challenges faced by those who deal with migrants and refugees. This could be felt in the moments shared between people—in the willingness to translate into a language more easily understood, in the sound of voices singing together, in the sharing of food, in the experience of the Korean value of jeong, described as an affinity between people, a feeling of attachment or connection, a shared closeness nurtured by chicken and beer, friendship and community, and a willingness to transform into a body of reconciles in an ever-fractured world.

Comprising a varied group of people from all around, with different backgrounds and experiences working in many settings, the MRN unites in solidarity and dedication toward "promoting a culture of hospitality and reconciliation" in Asia Pacific.

Whether from Catholic orders, civil society, NGOs, or faith-based groups, priests, attorneys, social workers, and volunteers—this vibrant network works together to respond to the vocation to create a better future with migrants and refugees.