[Report file] Discrimination between Hansen people and their families is ongoing

"I must not be revealed" "Mosaic, do you have to change the voice?"

The Hansen people and their families who met at a Hansen settlement in Jeollabuk-do to see and hear the lives of the Hansen people, especially the lives of their families, all said these words before standing in front of the camera.

There were also people who agreed to attend the interview but declined on the same day.

Being afraid to reveal yourself seemed like a very old habit.

As of the end of last year, there were 8,574 Hansen people in Korea.

The existence of Hansen people around us is fading, but exposure to the press was the most terrifying thing for them, who had lived their whole lives in prejudice and discrimination.

Every time I took out a piece of life that lived under social stigma and prejudice, sadness leaked out of the mask, and I carefully continued word by word throughout the interview, as if it was difficult to reveal even dissatisfaction.

“The Japanese people caught all the Hansen

people and imprisoned them on Sorok Island. At that time, a lot of people died, and even after doing that and liberation, the Korean government didn’t do anything better for them. As I did it, I tried countless times to escape from Sorok Island, and while escaping, a huge number of people were swept away by the sea and died.

“The government bought land and gave it a few pyeongs, and gave me one house and one room. So I came here and lived up to now, but I can’t tell you about life back then. All the roads were unpaved and it was just gravel fields. Pick it up and sell it…”

I was forcibly moved to a place I had no connection to and lived a miserable life, but I did not want to give the same pain to my children, so I lived hard and endured, but I suffered because there was nothing I could do about social discrimination.

Children often do not have Hansen's disease, and although it is not contagious, they are treated the same as Hansen's parents.

Mr. Hansen-in B said,

"As a parent, I always feel very sorry. Why do they give birth to their babies and give birth to them? Also, they went to school and didn't know much when they were young, but when they grow up, you know about their parents. , I don't think it's because of such a wound."

“Of course, I have no choice but to stay away from my parents. My children even had depression, and even if they got married, there were cases where they got divorced because it was known that their parents were Hansen.”

I was able to meet Hansenin II and hear his story firsthand.

The life of a Hansen child was also miserable.

They were forced to live apart from their parents, and they had virtually no place in school or society.

There were many cases where they could not stand the discrimination and left the settlements.

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Hansenin II

"I think the pain of being treated like an orphan, not an orphan, was very painful. And I remember the experience of being beaten as a leper and fighting. I think those things were the most difficult."

"I knew that if you say you live in a certain neighborhood, you live in a Hansen settlement. After school, there are many cases where you deliberately cross the mountain and come home without others knowing."

The children who could not afford to abandon their parents and leave the settlements made a living by operating pigs, poultry, and livestock run by their parents, but it became difficult to run the livestock anymore due to aging and environmental pollution problems.

Although they are in desperate need of attention and help, they are designated as recipients of basic livelihood and receive government support to earn their livelihood.

Rather, compensation for the family was initiated by the Japanese government.

In June 2019, a Japanese court in Kumamoto ruled that the Hansen family should be compensated.

They cited reasons why they lost their educational opportunities because of refusal to attend school, suffered financial loss from being rejected for a job, had limited options in life, and could not live with their family, which prevented them from forming good family relationships.

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The Japanese court's decision led to the enactment of the Hansen Family Compensation Act in November of the same year.

The Japanese government also opened a way for Korean Hansen families and Taiwanese Hansen families to receive compensation from the Japanese government, who were subjected to human rights violations due to forcible isolation during the Japanese colonial period with the phrase

Since 2020, a private-led Hansen family compensation claim group has been formed, and after applying for compensation in April 2021, 10 people received the first compensation in April.

Spouses and children received 1.8 million yen (about 17 million won), and siblings received 1.3 million yen (about 12 million won).

However,

was a major obstacle.

It was clear that he had leprosy before liberation, but proving it was more difficult than expected.

During the Korean War, there were many cases where there were no records of it at the Sorokdo hospital.

Considering that thousands of Hansen people were on Sorok Island during the Japanese colonial period, it is estimated that there are more people who can claim compensation, but currently about 120 people have made a claim and are awaiting review by the Japanese government.

The fact that the number of claimants is smaller than expected is that there are many people who have died of old age, and there is an atmosphere where they are reluctant to reveal the fact that they are the second generation of Hansen, a lawyer for the compensation claim group said.

The voices calling for the government to step in so that the Hansen family, who have lived their entire lives in discrimination, can live as human beings for the rest of their lives are gaining strength.

Through the revision of related laws, the state acknowledges that the housing problems of second-generation people like Japan, discrimination in school education, and the suffering caused by various stigmas are not an individual problem, but are caused by the stigma and discrimination of our society. There is a need for a process to provide regular compensation.

In reality, it is urgent to build a dedicated nursing hospital for the aging Hansen people and their families.

This is because they are being discriminated against again even in nursing homes where they should be comfortable.

For them, discrimination is an ongoing process.

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Mr. Hansen-in C said,

"We are in the same room, but we are non-Hansen-in and we don't leave them together. Let's keep it separate. I wish I could live my old age while being treated as a person.”

▶ Anti-Japanese that has not been recognized for 80 years…

A small monument erected on Sorokdo

▶ The Hansen people who were discriminated against…

Sun government started to compensate, our government?