South Asian residents to speak on difficulties

Seoul city will hold a town hall meeting to discuss the needs of foreign residents from South Asian countries, Saturday.

The meeting, to be held at the Seoul Global Center, will likely attract around 100 Seoul residents. Foreigners from South Asia may apply to participate by calling 02-2075-4117 or emailing donghoon@seoul.go.kr by Thursday.

Since 2000 the city government has held town halls two to three times a year to enable their policies to reflect the needs of Seoul’s growing foreign population. According to the city government, 400,000 foreigners reside in the city, up from 260,000 in 2008.

The town halls have laid the groundwork for many policies including issuing debit cards, opening job career fairs and establishing schools for foreigners.

Each meeting has focused on a particular subject or the needs of those from a certain region. Last year, meetings were held separately for Taiwanese, Mongolians and Indonesians.

The upcoming meeting will focus on people from South Asian countries including Nepal and Bangladesh. The city government estimates Seoul has 5,000 South Asian residents as of June 30. The largest group comes from Indonesia, with 1,843, followed by Nepal with 1,176 and Pakistan with 1,042. Most are blue-collar workers contracted under the employment insurance system here; many have also come to study in Seoul.

Nguyen Ngoc Cam, a 42-year-old Vietnamese who has been named as honorary mayor of foreigners in Seoul, expressed high hopes for the upcoming event. “I hope the debate will pave the way for expats and Korean nationals to empathize with and understand each other,” she said.

Das Debabrata, 29, a doctoral student from Bangladesh, wishes to talk about the problems with filing insurance applications as a foreigner unaccustomed to the Korean language and systems.

Seoul’s Women and Family Affairs Office representative Um Kyu-sook also made a statement in a press release. “Through the town hall meeting I hope to hear about how South Asian expat residents are faring in Seoul — their struggles and concerns, and ways to improve their living circumstances,” she said.

“It may not be feasible to resolve all the conflicts arising from the different lifestyles as well as the cultural and religious differences we have. But the city government will continuously heed their problems and utilize the experience to lay the foundation to develop as a global city.”