Japan (see also Korea)

Diplomatic row with China still unresolved

A Mainichi Shimbun poll showed that 82 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with Japan’s handling of the five North Korean seekers seized by Chinese police on 8 May at the Japanese Consulate in Liaoning.  Of the dissatisfied respondents, 58 percent said the government lacked an understanding of human rights and 23 percent cited lack of leadership by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Japanese diplomats. 

To avoid similar incidents in the future, the government will send immigration officials to its consulates general in Shenyang and Guanzhou.  The immigration officials will meet with Japanese diplomats in China to simplify the screening steps for potential refugees.  Allegedly the absence of immigration personnel at the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang was partly to blame for the diplomatic row. 

Japan and China have yet to start discussions to resolve the diplomatic row over the North Korean asylum seekers.  A resolution has been indefinitely postponed as the two governments have not even scheduled talks over whether Chinese police infringed Japan’s rights of inviolability. Since the incident, the Japanese government has reviewed its policy toward refugees and asylum seekers and the Foreign Ministry’s crisis management system.  Likewise, the Justice Ministry has begun compiling a manual on how officials should handle similar incidents in the future.  It also examined security conditions and the chain of command in the event of an emergency at diplomatic offices overseas. 

Immigration offenders deported

A total of 40,764 people were deported from Japan for immigration violations in 2001, down by 10,695 from the previous year.  The Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau said the decline is mainly due to the country’s prolonged economic slump, which has made Japan less attractive to irregular migrant workers.  Among those deported, 30,063 or 74 percent were overstayers.  Many of them came from Asian countries, with 9,952 from South Korea, 8,731 from China and 5,104 from the Philippines. 

Foreign detainees forgotten

Japanese immigration authorities forgot about two foreigners held for overstaying their visas, leaving them to languish in jail for weeks longer than allowed.  A Turkish national was released on 6 June from Tokyo detention center, nearly two months after the legal custody period had expired, while a Vietnamese national was also released on the same day whose term expired on 17 May.  The Turkish’s case was discovered during a routine check, and subsequent investigation uncovered the case of the Vietnamese.  Although media sources said the two would be deported, a Justice Ministry official said no decision has been taken.  Detention for visa violations in the country is limited to 30 days, which could be extended by another month if more time is needed to make a decision.

Decision on Afghans overturned

The Tokyo High Court overturned the decision of the Tokyo District Court instructing the Justice Ministry to rescind its order to hold seven Afghan men at an immigration detention facility.  The seven were released from the facility in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture on 1 March after the district court ruled they might receive refugee status and that their detention might infringe on their human rights.  Four of the seven were detained last October on suspicion of illegal entry while the three were detained for undisclosed reasons.

Sources:  Kyodo, “82% dissatisfied with handling of asylum case," Japan Today, 4 June 2002; Kyodo News Service, “Japan to send immigration officers to two consulates in China," 5 June 2002; Kyodo News Service, “40,764 expelled for breaking immigration law in 2001," 6 June 2002; Reuters, “Two foreigners “forgotten" in Japanese detention," 7 June 2002;  “Government unable to settle asylum-seek row," Daily Yomiuri, 9 June 2002; Kyodo, “Tokyo high court overturns order to free 7 Afghans," 10 June 2002