April 14, 2023

The House of Representatives at its plenary session on April 13 began discussing a bill to revise the Immigration Control Act in order to maintain indefinite/long-term detention of asylum seekers. A similar bill was scrapped in 2021 after being criticized as human rights abuses targeting asylum seekers.

Currently, an Act provision suspends the deportation of foreigners who are applying for refugee status. However, the bill, if enacted, will add an exception to this provision so that the immigration authorities can send asylum seekers, even while their claims are pending, to their own countries after they applied for and failed to gain asylum three times.

Japanese Communist Party member of the Lower House Motomura Nobuko stated that the expulsion or return of people to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened is a violation of Article 33 of the UN Refugee Convention. She demanded that Japan's immigration policy abide by international human rights standards.

Motomura said, "The Japanese authorities confine to immigration detention centers overstaying foreigners who have lost their residency status in Japan. Long detention periods are normal and no proper medical care is provided to them there. Even some people have died while in custody." She cited an example of Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan woman who died while in detention at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau.

Motomura referred to the recommendation issued by the UN Human Rights Committee to Japan to set a ceiling on detention periods and to effectively examine the legitimacy of their detention by a court of law.

Justice Minister Saito Ken, however, replied, "Neither prior-judicial scrutiny nor a period cap is necessary."

The bill will penalize foreign nationals who refuse to voluntarily leave Japan. Motomura criticized this for treating people who were born and raised in Japan, have a family or someone special in Japan, speak only Japanese or are fluent in Japanese, like criminals.

Past related articles:
> Motomura: Detention decisions should be made by courts, not by immigration bureau [March 9, 2023]
> 3 opposition parties agree to demand holding of Diet committee meetings over Sri Lankan woman's death at immigration control center [August 12, 2021]
> Unified efforts by opposition parties working with public movement activists block adverse revision of immigration law: Shii [May 19, 2021]