외국인 수용자 처우의 변화와 개선방향 연구

Abstract

Due to COVID-19, the number of foreigners entering Korea has decreased sharply and is increasing again recently. However, the number of foreign prisoners is 2,315 in 2019, 2,451 in 2020, 2,377 in 2021, and 2,644 in 2022, which is continuously increasing without a dramatic decrease as much as the number of foreign entrants. The number of foreign prisoners is related to the number of illegal foreigners who are relatively more likely to commit crimes than foreign entrants, and it is not difficult to predict that the total number of foreign residents or illegal foreigners will continue to increase except during the COVID-19 period, and accordingly, the number of foreign prisoners will also increase. Soon we will meet the era of 3,000 foreign prisoners. The overcrowding of correctional facilities is one of the biggest problems facing correctional institutions, and the ever-increasing number of foreign prisoners will further encourage overcrowding. When it comes to foreign prisoners, we need the inmate management considering various characteristics such as language, religion, and eating habits, but the reality is that it is technically impossible to treat them with pursuing diversity due to the physical limitations of correctional facilities. Regulations for solving such problems are also temporarily revised without completeness, and the current situation is that the resolution of the problem depends on coping skills of each correctional institution. In this paper, we will look at the current status of foreign prisoners and the limitations of treatment, and inspect the changes in the treatment of foreign prisoners with the perspective of regulations and correctional sites. Finally, I will suggest reorganizing regulations, establishing specialized prisons for foreigners(not an exclusive correctional facility for foreigners), and expanding the international transfer of sentenced persons as improvement for the treatment of foreign prisoners.