이주자 사회통합 관련 법률에 관한 소고

There is a growing interest in social integration of migrants living in Korea. This paper examines laws regarding social integration of migrants and explores measures to improve them. The concept of social integration of migrants can be understood based on two basic elements, “adaptation to the host society” and “reciprocity”. While a migrant is required to respect basic constitutional principles in the process of adaptation, forcing a migrant to give up his/her own culture and identity is contrary to reciprocity of social integration and is undesirable from the perspective of fundamental rights. Furthermore, legislation for social integration should be directed towards ensuring human dignity. This paper reviews laws related to social integration of migrants, i.e. Nationality Act, Immigration Act, Framework Act on Treatment of Foreigners Residing in the Republic Of Korea, Multicultural Families Support Act, and Act On the Employment Of Foreign Workers. Uncertainty of the definition and direction of the term social integration, overlapping and contradictory policies between government ministries, and discriminatory regulations based on migrants’ legal status and types of migration are important problems that these laws have. It is necessary to improve these laws focusing on basic elements of social integration, adaptation and reciprocity, rather than focusing on elements like nationality or status of stay.