CNN reported that Russians who fled to Korea to avoid conscription have been stranded at Incheon International Airport for months.
CNN introduced their stories in detail, saying, "Five men who fled abroad after Russia issued a mobilization order last September have been stranded at Incheon International Airport for several months due to the Korean authorities' refusal to accept them."
Three of them arrived in Korea in October of last year, and the other two in November, and applied for refugee review, but the Ministry of Justice refused to refer them to the review, and so far they are staying at the departure hall.
Attorney Jong-chan Lee of Appil, a public interest law center that helps them cancel their decision not to refer to refugee screening, said in an interview with CNN, "They only get one meal a day, and they eat the rest with bread and drinks."
Clothes must be hand-washed and changed, and the activity radius is limited to the departure hall and duty-free area.
Lawyer Lee pointed out that "opportunities to access medical services are limited, and support for mental health is non-existent despite the unstable situation."
Previously, human rights groups such as the Refugee Human Rights Network filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission on the 30th of last month, claiming that these five Russians were virtually neglected due to the Ministry of Justice's rejection of refugee screening.
Attorney Lee explained that at the time, the Ministry of Justice judged that "simple evasion of military service does not qualify as a refugee reason."
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CNN pointed out that "conscription is a sensitive issue in South Korea, where all healthy men between the ages of 18 and 35 are obliged to serve in the military."
"In Korea, even athletes or K-pop superstars cannot be exempted from military service," he explained, adding that controversies regarding conscientious objection and alternative service are still ongoing.
It was analyzed that if Russians who had avoided conscription were recognized as refugees right away, the controversy over Korea's strict conscription system would ignite.
According to CNN, in Russia, all men under the age of 60 with no criminal history are subject to conscription, and a total of 200,000 people fled to Georgia, Kazakhstan and neighboring EU countries for a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a mobilization order in September last year. .
Soldiers who refuse to fight on the battlefield are detained in underground facilities in Russian-occupied Ukraine and put on trial for desertion, CNN added.