Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Today, the Church observed worldwide the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees. For this year, Pope Loe XIV chose the theme, "Even just one of these little ones" (Mt 18:10), urging special emphasis on the condition of migrant children.
"Every child, every human being possesses infinite dignity,” the pontiff writes. “Before every migrant child, we are called to make an act of humanity and faith”.
Inspired by these words, the Catholic Times, a South Korean Catholic weekly, published an in-depth report this week on the situation of migrant children in the East Asian country.
The article highlights the efforts by the Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants of the Archdiocese of Seoul to help children born to foreign families who are not registered by the South Korean state due to their irregular status.
This situation stands in stark contrast to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which mandates that governments guarantee rights regardless of a child's or parents' status, such as race, language, or nationality, and requires that the "best interests of the child" be prioritised in all decisions concerning children.
The paper cites the emblematic case of A, a Vietnamese child born in South Korea, whose untreated cold worsened into pneumonia. He was hospitalised three or four times over the course of a year, with medical expenses exceeded 10 million won (almost US$ 7,380). This situation is due to the fact that undocumented migrant families lack residence permits, and cannot enrol their children in the health insurance system.
As in A’s case, undocumented migrant children are treated as “non-existent” in educational, cultural, and administrative contexts, including civil registration.
They are not, for instance, counted among the 202,208 children from other cultural backgrounds currently attending secondary schools according to official data. In effect, these “invisible” children remain excluded from the classroom.
The starting point for guaranteeing at least basic rights to migrant children is acknowledging their existence.
Addressing this issue, the Supreme Court of (South) Korea ruled on 27 August that the National Assembly’s failure to legislate a universal birth registration system was unconstitutional.
“The right to be registered at birth cannot be interpreted as having to be protected differently depending on whether the child is a domestic or a foreigner,” reads the court’s ruling.
“Considering that children cannot choose their birthplace, country, or parents, it is the minimum safeguard for a child as a human being that the country with jurisdiction over the place of birth officially records their existence as soon as they are born,” it goes on to say.
In some places, local authorities have devised and implemented measures to address this issue. Gyeonggi-do Province, for instance, introduced a “Public Verification System for Unregistered Foreign Children” in February.
Working with organisations like the Committee for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Save the Children of the Archdiocese of Seoul, the province issued certificates to 144 minors across 10 cities and counties by the end of June.
These documents are distinct from official birth registrations and do not grant citizenship or residence permits; however, they serve as a basic starting point for accessing healthcare and social services by administratively acknowledging a child's existence.
“While the model of discovering, verifying, and linking migrant children shows potential, it does not fully resolve regional rights gaps and birth registration gaps,” said Father Yoo Sang-hyeok, chairman of the Committee for the Pastoral Care of Migrants of the Archdiocese of Seoul, speaking to the Catholic Times.
According to the South Korean Catholic weekly, the Gyeonggi-do system and the Supreme Court ruling demonstrate that the social climate of indifference towards migrant children is gradually shifting.
The view is also emerging within the South Korean Church, not only through bodies dedicated to migrant pastoral care but also at the level of individual parish communities, that they should establish a system to identify undocumented migrant children and connect them with the relevant institutions.
“Pope Leo XIV is shifting his perspective from 'migration management' to 'complete and immediate protection of human rights’,” Father Yoo explained. The Holy Father “is demanding a shift from welcoming migrant children to stable pastoral practices, accepting them as full members of the Church family."
Currently, alongside the Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants of the Archdiocese of Seoul, commissions from other dioceses are involved in the “Wings of Hope” project, which provides healthcare assistance to undocumented migrant children.
Leveraging the “ecclesial network”, Church-run welfare facilities identify migrant families, and connect them to medical facilities or cover childbirth expenses. Now, however, the call is to take the next step.
"The role of the Church community is to immediately protect migrant children amid gaps in their rights, connect them to public institutions, and offer witness to them," Father Yoo explained.
“It is entirely possible to assign migrant care volunteers at the parish level to identify migrant families, guide them to systems that can help them, and, if necessary, connect them to the diocesan Migrant Ministry Committee or medical institutions.”
Such an initiative, the South Korean priest notes, goes hand in hand with advocating for the development of systems and laws guaranteeing the universal rights of migrants, such as a universal birth registration system.
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