Canada Grants Refugee Status to Mentally Ill S. Korean

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

Oh Mi-sook

Canada has granted refugee status to a mentally ill South Korean woman and her daughter on grounds the treatment of psychiatric patients and family members in their homeland is so shoddy it amounts to persecution, the Vancouver Sun reported last week.

According to the newspaper, Oh Mi-sook, 42, initially sought refugee status in Canada by claiming she had been persecuted in her native South Korea by a church representative who had "poisoned everyone against her" and had been arrested and held three times against her will.

Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board determined she was, in fact, persecuted ― not by a church representative, but by a South Korean health care system that mistreats mentally ill patients.

The Vancouver Sun said Oh suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and had been forced into mental institutions three times in South Korea without medication, quoting the conclusion of the refugee board.

Based on that mistreatment, the board granted Oh refugee status in October. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration appealed the decision. And, last month, a federal judge ruled in favor of Oh.

The case highlights the poor treatment of mentally ill patients in countries such as South Korea, according to the paper.

Documents submitted in the case say Korea illegally and forcefully hospitalizes mentally ill patients, refuses to discharge patients, forges medical records and unreasonably limits patients' correspondence. Patients also suffer frequent violence, Oh's advocates reportedly said.

The Vancouver Sun gave a detailed account of "maltreatment" imposed on those with mental illness in South Korea.

"South Koreans with mental illness are treated as an extreme underclass, with one hospital room sleeping 100 women with just 15 mats and no room for personal belongings," the newspaper reported, quoting a letter submitted to the board and written by Daniel Fisher, executive director of the National Empowerment Center in Lawrence, Mass.

Oh's 15-year-old daughter also faced difficulties as the child of a mentally ill person in South Korea. So the board granted the daughter refugee status, concluding her basic human rights were violated in South Korea.

Canadians, angered by the report, rushed to lash out at South Korea's inhumane treatment of mentally ill people.

One of the postings on the Vancouver Sun Web site said, "South Korea needs to change its culture of repressing and badly treating mentally ill people! South Korea must enter the 21st century! If South Korea ever wants to become an "advanced country" it needs to change its culture of repressing and badly treating its mentally ill people! I know that in South Korea people will not seek treatment for mental problems or even seek counseling because of the stigma that goes with it."

Source

Comments

[rikayla.livejournal.com]

eh. :D

[aprettyeternity.livejournal.com]

Wow.
Happy that the person's getting help now though.

But woooow South Korea. Way to go. >.>

[jia-zhang.livejournal.com]

Wow, Canada... ^^

But it totally makes sense for Korea to do this. Mental illnesses in Asian countries have such bad stigma.

[cinis.livejournal.com]

It's sad that this doesn't surprise me :|

[misuslovett.livejournal.com]

oh my god I didn't even know any of this happened in S.K. that's horrible =O

but way to go Canada for granting her refugee status! That is why we are awesome ♥

[xxsmiiles.livejournal.com]

Haha Canada saves the day 8) ... and that's all we do >__> oh, and provide drugs lol.

I agree with the last statement so much. SRSLY S.KOREA!

[anicaasharp.livejournal.com]

more about the daughter...
Oh's 15-year-old daughter also faced difficulties as the child of a mentally ill person in South Korea. So the board granted the daughter refugee status, concluding her basic human rights were violated in South Korea.

Under state care, the daughter wasn't sent to school and had inadequate housing, sleeping on a floor in a room with several other children, according to the refugee board's ruling. No one would tell her where her mother was, and she was afraid, but received no emotional support.
vancouver sun (http://www.vancouversun.com/Health/Mentally+South+Korean+refugee+status+upheld+historic+case/1715678/story.html)

[honeebs.livejournal.com]

I wonder how long it took them to do this.
That's too bad S. Korea..let's get on the same ok.

[azurer.livejournal.com]

Makes Canada look good, but Korea. :| Ohhh, Korea, this is one of your many wake-up calls. When another country starts providing your people with the support needed to treat their illnesses it is a definite sign that something needs to be fixed. Can't sweep this one under the rug.

[smilingsounds.livejournal.com]

Four for you Canada, you go Canada.

[hoyah.livejournal.com]

yay canada - the way mentally ill patients are treated in soko (and many other places in asia in general) it really does amount to widespread persecution. u_u

[ashiya.livejournal.com]

"South Korea needs to change its culture of repressing and badly treating mentally ill people! South Korea must enter the 21st century! If South Korea ever wants to become an "advanced country" it needs to change its culture of repressing and badly treating its mentally ill people! I know that in South Korea people will not seek treatment for mental problems or even seek counseling because of the stigma that goes with it."

SO MUCH THIS.

Damn Korea, no wonder I don't want to go back. -__-;; This is one of the many problems that needs addressing in Korean society and culture.

[emmathejunebug.livejournal.com]

I've been diagnosed with mental illness, and I've gone through similar things.
But, I'm proud of Canada for these things.
:]

[herro-kitty.livejournal.com]

D: wtf Korea?

[enrapturedx3o.livejournal.com]

Are you feeling better now bb?

*Omona hug*

[mardigrasmaven.livejournal.com]

...And this is why Canada ROCKS!!

Seriously. RoK? Y'all need to get with it. You're never going to strengthen your country if you're still considering those with mental illnesses a weakness that you need to brush under the rug or beat down into submission so they're quiet. They're still people too.

[xcherryblossomx.livejournal.com]

LOVE CANADA!
So basically SKorea threats their mentally ill citizens like criminals...

[olive-101.livejournal.com]

Canada is so underrated sometimes even though it's so awesome.

I'm glad she was granted refugee status. =]

[breathe-ai.livejournal.com]

go canada <333

yeah...my roommate's cousin in Taiwan definitely has a mental disorder, schizophrenia or something yet her family says she's possessed...=__=

[sincronia.livejournal.com]

I... I can't stop staring at your icon. D:

[emmathejunebug.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I am.
♥

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

They forge medical records? D: This is like being put in a jail. I dont see their aim in helping anyone.

100 women to 15 mats? THE HELL? That's worse than jail.


in South Korea people will not seek treatment for mental problems or even seek counseling because of the stigma that goes with it.

This shit is depressing.

ty canada, do the right thing♥

[twelvethirty.livejournal.com]

As someone with a (treated!) mental illness, and someone who comes from family with a huge history of mental illness .. this makes me so mad.

So ironic that Korea is one of those places that go to EXTREME lengths to preserve their image (like that one actor who's being sent to rehab and jail for doing ecstasy once) yet they let something like this happen. Wtf guys, get with the program .. people get sick, its just a fact of life. Mental illness is so common that giving them bad treatment is like locking up everyone who gets the flu - it's just such a retarded way of thinking ..

Yay for canada. :D I hope them shedding light on this might persuade Korea to shape up.

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

ia we are awesome. which is why i dont get why epik high didnt add a vancouver show :( but then again i suspect tablo holds a grudge against all of canada just cause of a few stupid kids.

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

Seriously, what the fuck. I hate how in korea the status of one member of your family effects the rest. This poor girl has to suffer because her mother is seen as less in society.