Stateless baby’s medical struggle highlights plight of asylum seekers in Korea

This undated photo shows Elhan under medical care. Courtesy of Elhan’s mother

By Kim Se-jeong

Two-month-old premature baby boy Elhan was born in Korea — at 27 weeks — to a Russian couple whose visa status here remains uncertain. The baby’s surname has not been disclosed.

Elhan, who has faced acute respiratory distress syndrome and other complications since he was born, is being cared for in an incubator at a Gangwon Province hospital.

The infant’s father arrived in Korea five years ago and currently resides without documentation, while the mother, joining her husband here last year, holds a temporary visa. The mother has applied for asylum and awaits further processing.

Right now, accessing urgent medical care under the national health insurance system is impossible for Elhan. To receive subsidized health care services, his parents must register Elhan to receive a foreigner registration card, which requires a passport. However, that process is complex given the baby’s condition and his parents’ visa statuses.

Elhan’s parents were not avilable for comment.

Thanks to the benevolence of the hospital, local non-profit groups and Gangneung Support Center for Foreign Workers, Elhan has received critical medical attention so far. According to a hospital official, he was discharged from the intensive care unit on Monday and is expected to be discharged in May.

However, the real challenge will come when the baby boy needs additional medical attention after being discharged.

An activist from NANCEN, a refugee rights group headquartered in Seoul, expressed concern over an increasing number of children in Elhan’s situation amid a surge in asylum seekers here in recent years.

“As the number of asylum seekers increases, I see more children facing vulnerability,” the activist remarked. She also noted the number of Russian asylum seekers increased greatly since the war in Ukraine.

In 2023, the Ministry of Jusice received a total of 18,838 asylum applications, among which 13,711 were from Russian nationals. A decade earlier in 2013, the total number of asylum applications was more than 10 times lower at only 1,574.