Rights groups file petition over foreign residents' cash relief exclusion
Published: 29 Apr. 2026, 21:01
Updated: 30 Apr. 2026, 09:16
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- LEE SOO-JUNG
- [email protected]
![Immigrants and activists hold a press conference demanding expansion of eligibility of cash relief to mitigate soaring gas prices in front of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in central Seoul on April 28. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/30/9095695f-761a-44d7-9997-f0ad25138874.jpg)
Immigrants and activists hold a press conference demanding expansion of eligibility of cash relief to mitigate soaring gas prices in front of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in central Seoul on April 28. [YONHAP]
Immigrants' rights advocacy groups filed a petition with the state-run human rights watchdog over foreign residents' exclusion from cash relief from the Korean government, according to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea on Tuesday.
The cash relief — intended to alleviate financial burden from soaring gas prices due to the Iran war — offers 100,000 won ($67) to 600,000 won to 32.56 million people in the bottom 70 percent of income earners. The cash rollout, by principle, does not include foreign nationals as beneficiaries, though family members of Korean nationals or permanent residents are eligible for the benefit.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said earlier this month that "foreign nationals who have a closer affiliation to the country are included in the scheme as exceptions."
The petitioning organizations, which represent immigrants in Gyeonggi and other groups, held a press conference in front of the commission in central Seoul on Tuesday, criticizing the relief fund for “discriminating against migrants.” They also called on the government to expand eligibility regardless of nationality or stay permits.
Of the 2.16 million immigrants who have stayed in Korea for over three months as of March, 1.78 million — except those who came to Korea for marriage, permanent residency holders, and recognized refugees — are excluded from the benefit scheme, according to the groups.
“The soaring oil prices affect people of all nationalities equally,” said Udaya Rai, chief of the Migrants' Trade Union. “Immigrant laborers live and work in the same spaces as Koreans, and they should be treated equally as Koreans.”
“[Their exclusion] constitutes arbitrary discrimination as it excludes foreigners based on their registry on the residential database and stay permits,” said Lee Jin-hye, an immigration lawyer at Migrant Center Friend who represents the immigrant petitioners.
In March, the commission said that eligibility for cash handouts to mitigate the financial crisis should be expanded to include foreign residents. It also said earlier that the disaster relief fund during the Covid-19 pandemic must include foreign residents.
BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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