Korea to deport illegal workers

South Korea is beset with strikes and violent worker protests

Thousands of foreign workers have been leaving South Korea as the government threatens to deport illegal migrants.

Seoul has set a Saturday deadline for guest workers without the proper documentation to leave the country or face mass expulsion.

The crackdown affects 120,000 of the 230,000 guest workers in South Korea.

But more than 100,000 of these - mostly from China, the Philippines or South Asia - are reported to have gone into hiding.

The plan has already cost two lives, after a 31-year-old Sri Lankan man jumped in front of a train and another, from Bangladesh, hanged himself.

Cheap labour

Workers from across Asia have flocked to South Korea since 1987.

Stop right away deporting foreign migrant workers, which forces them to nowhere but death Statement from South Korean civil rights activists

Analysts say the then government opened up the country to cheap foreign labour in response to the growing union militancy in the Korean workforce.

Most of the inrush, to which the authorities turned a blind eye, came from Asian countries including China - which accounts for more than half the total - Thailand, the Philippines and even South Asian countries such as Pakistan.

Illegal immigrants are generally paid less than half what a South Korean would earn, and the work is often dirty, dangerous or degrading.

Migrant workers and their supporters have staged demonstrations, complaining about victimisation and saying they have received no thanks.

President Roh Moo-hyun faces high unemployment and strikes

Local media reports say some employers have taken advantage of the campaign to withhold salaries.

The government says it will try to ensure that deported workers do get money that is owed to them.

The new clampdown affects those workers who have stayed in South Korea illegally for more than four years.

Documentation

Shorter term illegal workers will be able to apply for retrospective documentation.

The South Korean Justice Ministry said 50 special "squads" would be rounding up the affected workers on Monday, immediately expelling those who had air tickets and passports.

It added that it would work with home country embassies to repatriate those without the right papers.

The government's action comes at a time when it faces yet more violent labour disputes, high unemployment, and criticism of the human rights violations that many guest workers have to endure.