At the end of last year, I had an opportunity to meet students attending Ajou Middle School in Seoul. The students met by the media were three students, Kim Ji-yu, Park Ji-min, and Choi Hyun-joon, who were third graders at the time. Although they were still young teenagers who seemed to be quite nervous, they had a horse and felt serious in their eyes.

That year, the students went through a big deal. This is because Min Hyuk, a Korean school friend from Iran (Korean name, Iran name is private), was forced to be repatriated when refugee recognition was denied. The forced repatriation would cause hardship, but Minhyuk had been converted to taboos in Islam, so he could have been executed according to the law when he returned to Iran.

Minhyuk's friends were told to hear the story and were very close. He didn't know what to do or what he could do. The only thing I knew about refugees at that time was the plight of the Yemen refugee application in Jeju. The same vague fear of the refugee problem was with them. But I couldn't see my friend being forced back to Iran, where he could be killed.

The children studied first. And the more he studied about refugees, the more likely he was to get refugee recognition. The Ajou Middle School Student Council, with three students, filed a petition to the Blue House. It was said that Minhyuk could be recognized as a refugee status after receiving proper refugee screening. In front of the Blue House, one relay and demonstrations were held. Was it because of their activities? Fortunately, Minhyuk was recognized as a refugee.

But people didn't see them as good. The criticisms and accusations that have been poured out on me have been poured out on these sixteen-year-old students. "You do not know what you are young," he said shallowly. What might have helped them to endure the ridicule and insults they would not have to receive at a young age?

Talking with the students I seemed to know the answer without asking. "My friend Minhyuk ..." For them, Minhyuk was just a 'friend', and it was natural to 'help a friend in need' for another great reason. And the truths that faced the moment of prejudice and indifference would have given students the power to endure the belief and difficulty in doing the right thing.

The students said that when the first refugee issue was mentioned on Jeju Island last year, they just spilled it and even suspected Yemen. However, Min Hyuk learned that the refugee problem became a problem for my friend, and he studied to help him, and found out that the truth they met was very different from what was known in the world.

I practiced what I thought was right and broke up with words that might seem obvious to my friends who have overcome even in the face of adversity. As a goodwill ambassador for UNHCR, what I do most and think is the most important. "The refugee problem is a human rights issue. Human rights are the equality of all peoples, both religious and ethnic. You can't put a difference here."

Now Min-hye's friends started high school in different places. However, I recently received the news that they had once again joined together to make a voice. In front of the reality that Minhyuk's father was not recognized as a refugee on August 8, 2019, Minhyuk's friends informed the world once again through the entrance door. This time thirty people joined.

"I couldn't believe it. For the same reason, the son and his father, who are refugees, decide that the son is at risk of persecution and that the father is not at risk of persecution. It is clear that the current situation of the father, which is high and one year after his son's recognition of refugees, is more noticeable… ) "<30 writers who couldn't use the entrance door"

Minhyuk's father was not recognized as a refugee, but he was granted a 'humane stay' due to the fact that he had to raise him. Humanitarian stay is a limited permit that requires a yearly qualification.

Minhyeuk is worried about her friend, and the minds of the students gathered together and Minhyuk's mind is counted.

(Photo = Yonhap News)

# In-It # In-It #Jung Woo-sung #People in the border