World · East Asia & Pacific · 5 hrs ago
Gyeonggi Refugees Say They Need More Housing and Livelihood Support
A survey of 156 refugees in Gyeonggi Province found that many face barriers to basic support.
The most commonly requested help was livelihood and housing support, named by 71.8% of respondents, followed by employment and self-reliance support at 60.4%.
People whose right to stay in the country was at risk faced greater hardship: all 23 surveyed in this group had experienced financial difficulty in the past year.
They also reported sharply different access to health care, with 82.6% unable to visit a hospital when needed in the past year, compared with 17.8% of those with more secure status.
Across all respondents, 60.4% said they needed legal advice but had not received it, and many also struggled to find information about support services.
The findings point to gaps in access to essential services for refugees, including those facing unstable work, housing and residency.
Gyeonggi Province says it will review existing programs and work with local authorities and other agencies to improve information sharing and connect people with services.
A survey of refugees in Gyeonggi found that livelihood and housing support were the most requested forms of assistance.
Employment and self-reliance support was the next most requested, cited by 60.4% of respondents.
The survey also found that refugees with insecure residency status faced greater barriers to health care and more frequent prolonged sadness or despair.
Gyeonggi announced the findings on October 30, following a survey of 156 refugees and interviews with 19 refugees and frontline workers.
- Who
- Refugees aged 15 or older living in Gyeonggi were surveyed.
- What
- The province’s first refugee monitoring survey found high demand for livelihood, housing, employment and self-reliance support.
- When
- The survey ran from August to October 2026. The findings were announced on October 30.
- Where
- Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.
- Why
- The survey was conducted under Gyeonggi’s ordinance on protecting refugees’ human rights and ensuring basic living conditions.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Gyeonggi surveyed 156 refugees aged 15 or older and conducted in-depth interviews with 19 refugees and frontline workers.
Gyeonggi announced the results of its refugee monitoring survey.
- Survey respondents
- 156 refugees aged 15 or older
- In-depth interviews
- 19 refugees and frontline workers
- Livelihood and housing support
- 71.8% said they needed it
- Employment and self-reliance support
- 60.4% said they needed it
- Health-care access
- 82.6% of respondents with insecure residency status had been unable to use a hospital when needed
3 sources
What people are saying
We will use the survey results as basic data to review policy needs by sector and the operation of existing programs, and develop ways to share information and connect services among cities, counties and relevant institutions.
We will distinguish between improvements possible at the local-government level and issues requiring changes to central-government systems, and seek a sound direction for policy.