April 17, 2021

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Fujino Yasufumi on April 16 at a House of Representatives plenary meeting opposed a bill to revise the immigration law that will allow the deportation of refugee applicants and overstayers’ children born in Japan.

JCP Fujino pointed out that the bill will revise the current law and allow the deportation of foreigners whose refugee application was dismissed more than three times. Noting that the refugee recognition rate in Japan is only 0.4%, Fujino said, “Japan applies an extremely limited definition to the term ‘refugee’. The government should review its stance and change the refugee-screening system to one operated by an independent third-party organization.”

In this regard, Fujino also pointed out, “If the bill is enacted, it is highly likely that as a penalty for disobedience to a deportation order, even foreign nationals who need to be protected, such as those who escape from inhumane suppression in their countries and overstayers’ children born in Japan, will be forced to leave Japan.”

Furthermore, Fujino touched on a new system introduced in the bill. Under this system, foreigners who are held in immigration detention centers for a long time will be allowed to live outside the facilities only if they fill certain requirements. Referring to the issue of unreasonably-long detentions of foreigners without proper visas and of the frequent occurrence of deaths of long-term detainees, Fujino said that the law should be changed to one under which the court is involved in the detention process. He also stressed the need to set a maximum limit to the detention period.

Fujino criticized the bill for the likelihood that it will lead to further violations of foreign detainees’ human rights. In response, Justice Minister Kamikawa Yoko said that the bill aims to enable the immigration administration to become more effective and caring about foreigners’ human rights.

Past related articles:
> JCP Yamazoe talks with lawyers working on issue of long-term confinement at immigration detention centers [January 17, 2021]
> JCP urges Justice Ministry to eliminate human rights violations in immigration detention center [October 31, 2020]
> Foreign detainee starved to death after huger-strike protesting against long-term confinement in detention center [October 8, 2019]
> One in four foreign detainees placed in confinement for more than 18 months [May 30, 2019]