life at the airport. The phenomenon has been known since the film “Terminal” with Tom Hanks at the latest. People who are stranded in the “no man’s land” of an international airport and can no longer get any further with their papers. “Terminal,” starring Hanks, was based on the true story of an Iranian man who lived at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for 18 years.
Five Russians have been stuck at Seoul airport for months, reports the news channel CNN. They wanted to evade the mobilization in Russia and got as far as Incheon International Airport, but they couldn’t go any further because the authorities wouldn’t let them into the country.
Three of the men have been living at the airport since October and two since November, her lawyer Lee Jong-chan told CNN. The Justice Department does not grant them refugee status. All have lodged an objection and have been stuck ever since. Your care is limited to the essentials. “They get one meal a day, which is lunch,” the attorney said. “But the rest of the day they live on bread and drink.” The men can use the sanitary facilities, but are not allowed to leave the transit zone with the duty-free area. “They have limited access to medical care and no support for their mental health, which is important given their precarious situation.”
For the South Korean judiciary, fleeing military service is not necessarily a reason to be recognized as a refugee. In principle, this is a common opinion. Conscription is considered a legitimate measure by a state, like levying taxes. Sanctions imposed by a state for evading service do not necessarily constitute persecution. In South Korea itself, there is conscription, which the state also rigidly enforces.
Lawyer Lee hopes that the men will be recognized as political refugees in court because Russia’s attack on the neighbor is an aggression contrary to international law. South Korean human rights organizations are now also campaigning for the men. “They are political refugees who are threatened with persecution,” says a statement from one organization. Three of them have a first court hearing on January 31st.
After the partial mobilization was announced, 300,000 men are said to have left Russia to seek safety abroad. In addition, there is an unknown number of Russians living abroad who are now avoiding traveling home. Dealing with those fleeing military service is also controversial in the EU. Another taboo topic is Ukrainians who fled to the EU to evade service in the Ukrainian armed forces. For months, Kyiv has been demanding that its allies send these people to Ukraine, even against their will.
Those: CNN
