Chinese gets prison sentence for brokering refugee applications on fake religious grounds

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- A Chinese national has been sentenced to 1 1/2 years behind bars for brokering applications for refugee status in South Korea based on fake religious grounds, sources said Sunday.

The 58-year-old broker has been indicted for allegedly colluding with other refugee brokers in China to bring Chinese job seekers to South Korea on tourist visas and help them apply for refugee status here.

The broker showed a sample refugee application letter to Chinese job seekers and had them copy it so as to state in their application forms that they cannot go back to China because they have been religiously persecuted by the Chinese government on the grounds that they follow a startup religion.

A total of 132 such fake refugee applications had been filed between 2018 and 2020.

The Seoul Central District Court recently found the broker guilty of violating the Immigration Act and handed out a 1 1/2-year jail sentence in consideration of the fact that the person committed the offense while separately standing trial on a similar case.

"The accused arranged fake refugee applications for Chinese people who want a long-term stay in South Korea to take advantage of the system that allows refugee applicants to legally stay in South Korea while their applications are under review," the court said.

It pointed out such a criminal offense results in negative national and social consequences by delaying the process to review the refugee applications of those who are truly in need.

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