March 22, 2021

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Yamazoe Taku on March 16 at a House of Councilors Judicial Affairs Committee meeting brought up the issue of the COVID-19 cluster outbreak at an immigration detention center in February and said that it is unacceptable for immigration authorities to disregard foreign detainees’ lives.

The Immigration Services Agency explained that as of March 10, the Tokyo immigration center confirmed that 64 people, including 58 foreign detainees and five center officials, were infected with COVID-19.

Yamazoe pointed out that according to information he obtained, as of February 15, several foreign detainees reportedly notified officials that they had COVID-19 symptoms such as fever and loss of taste or smell. He said, “The occurrence of the cluster infection represents immigration authorities’ stance of disregarding foreign detainees’ lives.” In response, the agency’s deputy commissioner Matsumoto Yutaka said that frontline officers deal with the coronavirus situation based on the agency’s operating manual.

Along with this problem, Yamazoe asked whether refugee status applicants who are on provisional release are eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccination.

Health Ministry deputy director-general Otsubo Hiroko in reply said that the ministry is discussing ways to enable those foreigners to register for a vaccination at municipalities where they reside.