장애외국인의 권리보장을 위한 법적 과제- 장애인복지사업 및 귀화 요건을 중심으로 -

The Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities declares the prohibition of discrimination as an important principle, but only allows certain overseas Koreans and foreigners to register as persons with disabilities. Moreover, even for those who are registered, it stipulates that support for disability welfare-related services may be restricted in consideration of budgets, etc. As a result, a significant number of long-term stay migrants are unable to register as a person with disability, and even those who have registered are excluded from the necessary support provided by disability welfare programs. Due to the lack of specific delegation regulation for the limited disability welfare services, the eligibility for foreigners with disabilities is arbitrarily decided according to the discretion of the relevant department for each services. Consequently, the rights of foreigners with disabilities, which should be guaranteed accordance with social security principles and international human rights standards, are being violated, resulting in unreasonable discrimination. In addition, the Nationality Act and related guidelines inadequately require the ability to maintain a livelihood equally for the disabled with economic difficulties, thereby leading to a discrimination against the disabled in acquiring nationality. This paper first outlines the legal status of foreigners with disabilities residing in Korea under social security laws. Subsequently, it examines the legislative history of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities related to foreigners, the eligibility criteria for disabled registration, and the limitations for foreigners in welfare services for the disabled. Furthermore, it reviews the recommendations for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and explores the legal tasks for improving the system related to foreigners with disabilities and suggests the direction to be taken. As a supplementary discussion, it examines the difficulties that foreigners with disabilities face in naturalizing as Korean citizens and explore the limitations of the current system.