Korean city kept 60 Filipino farmworkers' passports for months 'to stop them leaving'
Jeongeup city in North Jeolla province held the passports of about 60 of roughly 160 Filipino seasonal farmworkers it brought in under an agreement with a Philippine local government, SBS reported in September 2026; one worker had not had hers back more than four months after arriving in May. A city official said the passports were kept to prevent workers leaving, first claimed the agreement allowed it and then admitted it did not. The city returned the passports after a Justice Ministry immigration investigator demanded them and SBS contacted it, and blamed 'inexperience'. Migrant-rights groups petitioned the National Human Rights Commission on 28 September 2026 alleging passport confiscation, false absconding reports and tolerance of broker exploitation; no penalty against the city has been reported.
Rural labor shortages can never justify violating workers' human rights.
Said it held passports to prevent workers leaving, blamed administrative inexperience and returned them all.
No outcome recorded yet.