 The Ansan Migrant Center has released drawings by foreign workers now in their 40th day of a sit-in, in which they express their feelings about their lives in Korea. The sit-in at the center began in response to the government's forced expulsion of foreign nationals illegally staying in Korea, which began November 15.
Many of the drawings are, at least for Korea, portraits of shame. When the sit-in entered its 30th day, the roughly 70 participating foreigners drew pictures of "their most memorable event while living in Korea."
One worker, from Bangladesh, drew a scene in crayon where a Korean yells, according to the Bangladeshi, "Shika palipali ill hay," or "You bastard, work faster!" but he nevertheless feels he has to answer "Yes, Sir."
Another foreign worker drew a picture depicting the time he was asleep when a Korean worker came in drunk and broke company windows, threw various objects and hit him.
Another worker, believing that he had been underpaid, went to his company's president to ask for the rest of the money. Instead of paying, the president gets angry, yelling at him, telling him that he's been given the correct wage and to not come back to him again. The artist behind this drawing asks "Shouldn't I be paid for the work I've done?"
The indifference of fellow Korean workers also appears as a subject matter. One worker, from Sri Lanka, depicts how when he was chased out of the company he worked for, neither the company president nor fellow Koreans workers saw him off. Only the company dog follows him out of the factory, wagging its tail.
One of the drawings shows a foreign worker on the run from immigration, forced to walk about in the rain. Another depicts a worker wandering the streets, evading the police. One worker drew of his desire to "live peacefully in Korea" and draws himself releasing a white pigeon.
The center's general secretary, Kim Jae-geun, said the drawing session was organized "to give sit-in participants the opportunity to express, in drawings, their feelings at being chased by the law and what they remember most about their time in Korea."
"It's sad that the drawings portray Koreans as being people who ignore suffering and are egotistical," said Kim.
The sit-in continued as of Sunday. Participants called for amnesty for all workers who have been in the country for four years or less, for the formal hiring of skilled workers who have been in the country for four years or more, and for ethnic Koreans with Chinese citizenship to be included in the "overseas brethren law."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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