Fleeing civil war in his home country Cameroon, Fossi Wandji found himself stuck in an Incheon International Airport terminal for a year when his attempt at obtaining asylum from South Korea was rejected.
However, the Asian nation is now counting on him to boost its chances at the Homeless World Cup tournament — something that could in turn bolster his bid at winning the right to stay on in South Korea.
Wandji, 27, is playing on a squad with seven other South Korean players in the tournament, which showcases national teams made up of young, unhoused people, refugees and those who have battled substance abuse.
Photo: AFP
The tournament, newly backed by global soccer body FIFA, is hosted by Asia for the first time this year since it began in 2003.
The event bills itself as helping participants change their lives for the better through soccer and has already sparked a feel-good documentary starring Bill Nighy, plus a South Korean movie last year called Dream.
However, Wandji’s experience is also reminiscent of another movie, Tom Hanks’ The Terminal, in which the protagonist was forced to live in an airport as he was denied entry to the US, but unable to return to his own country because of a military coup.
“I left Cameroon because Cameroon had a war,” Wandji said on the sidelines of the soccer pitch at Seoul’s Hanyang University.
While he was trying to flee, a contact who was helping him suggested South Korea could be a good place to seek refuge. So, in October 2022, Wandji boarded a plane to Seoul.
However, the South Korean Ministry of Justice immediately rejected his claim on his arrival at the airport, blocking him from leaving the terminal while he sought a reversal of the decision.
While he waited, the Terminal 2 transit area became his temporary home.
“I had some place where you can put a blanket,” he said, describing how he shared the space with about 10 other people, including Russian asylum seekers, who had fled to avoid military conscription in the ongoing war with Ukraine.
Photos published by South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh showed Wandji making a makeshift bed with a blanket, using boxes of noodles to separate himself from other asylum seekers sleeping nearby.
Despite signing international conventions on refugees, South Korea accepts only a tiny number of asylum seekers each year. It has received more than 116,400 asylum applications over the past 30 years, but approved 1,507 — a 1.29 percent acceptance rate, South Korean Ministry of Justice data showed.
A South Korean court has overturned the ministry’s rejection of Wandji’s claim, allowing him to leave the airport last year with a stay permit while his asylum application is re-examined.
In May, Wandji applied to join the South Korean Homeless World Cup team and made the squad two months later.
His contribution has been crucial, teammate Hong Seung-woo said.
“Without his defense, we would have conceded so many goals,” Hong said.
Wandji scored one goal in the team’s first five matches.
This year’s edition features 52 teams from 38 countries worldwide, local organizers and it is the first since FIFA signed an agreement to partner with the Homeless World Cup Foundation in organizing it.
Under the agreement, FIFA is providing medals and trophies, and broadcasting the event which runs until Saturday, on their FIFA+ streaming platform free of charge.
“I don’t know how to explain, but I feel like this [South Korea] is my country,” Wandji said. “I pray to God that I win asylum.”
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
RELEASE: The move follows Washington’s removal of Havana from its list of terrorism sponsors. Most of the inmates were arrested for taking part in anti-government protests Cuba has freed 127 prisoners, including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer, in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island. Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing on Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power on Monday to US president-elect Donald Trump. “Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega said of her husband, Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the
RSS