2003-03-04-Whereabouts of 18 Foreign HIV Patients Unknown

2003-03-04-Whereabouts of 18 Foreign HIV Patients Unknown

Authorities in charge of keeping track of foreign residents with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) revealed they do not know the whereabouts of 18 individuals.

As of April last year, 241 foreign residents were reported to have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and 18 were unable to be located, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.

Of the total, 208 have been deported and 11 have died here while another four still reside in the country, leaving 18 unaccounted for.

``Undocumented workers and people with forged passports have been counted as missing even after they turned out to be HIV positive through medical check-ups at local community health centers,¡¯¡¯ a ministry official said. ``We are working closely with working-level officials from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to keep ourselves up-to-date on the whereabouts of the missing,¡¯¡¯ he added.

``Foreign industrial trainees and migrant workers with working six-month-long visas do not seem to be an issue because they have come under mandatory medical tests even before entering Korea,¡¯¡¯ an NIH official, who declined to be identified, told The Korea Times.

``However, migrant workers with unstable status, such as illegal aliens who entered the country on short-term tourist visas, are likely to pose a threat because they have not undergone medical check-ups for HIV,¡¯¡¯ he said.

He went on to say, ``Although some undocumented workers with HIV are presumably employed within the entertainment industry here, there is no legal basis for us to do something about them. All we can do is persuade these people to voluntarily report to the authorities and leave the country.¡¯¡¯

``The Immigration Office under the Ministry of Justice is trying to come up with new guidelines to tackle the issue,¡¯¡¯ he said.

A total of 64 NIH branches across the country offer free testing for migrant workers, whether here on a legal or illegal basis.

The number of foreigners who have been deported because they were HIV positive jumped over the last year after recording a gradual rise with 12 in 1999, 20 in 2000 and 47 in 2001.