arrupe On July 2, 2021, the Kamakura City Council passed and enacted a letter of opinion addressed to the Prime Minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Justice, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Speaker of the House of Councillors, calling for a review of refugee policy from a humanitarian perspective.
I believe that the expression of an opinion on refugee policy by a local assembly is a groundbreaking event. We hope that this movement will spread nationwide. The full text of the opinion letter is posted here.
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Opinion Regarding the Need to Review Refugee Policy from a Humanitarian Standpoint
Although Japan is a signatory to the Refugee Convention, the reception of refugees is extremely low compared to other developed countries. The recognition rate has not reached 1% for a long time: in 2019, Japan recognized 44 people (0.4%) out of 10,375 applicants for refugee status, and in 2020, due to entry restrictions caused by the Corona disaster While the number of applicants plummeted to 3,936, 47 (1.2%) were granted recognition.
As a result of the strict interpretation of the Refugee Convention and that only “refugees in the limited sense” are eligible for protection, foreigners fleeing civil war and persecution, who should be protected, are in a difficult situation without being saved. For example, while many Kurds fleeing persecution in Turkey and other countries have been granted refugee status in other countries, not a single Kurd has been recognized as a refugee in Japan.
The United Nations and other organizations have long demanded that Japan’s immigration administration correct this situation. One criticism is the low refugee recognition rate. Another is the “detention of all cases” policy, which, in principle, detains foreigners who do not have the status of residence and are suspected of having grounds for deportation in immigration facilities, and the long-term detention without a maximum period of stay in these facilities, as well as the treatment that ignores human rights.
The Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act Amendment Bill submitted to the recent 204th session of the Diet was effectively scrapped due to criticism that the truth about the death of Wisima Sandamari, a Sri Lankan woman detained in an immigration facility, has not been clarified. The bill was criticized by many for such reasons as the bill facilitates the repatriation of foreigners who are unable to return home due to persecution or fear for their lives and may cause serious disadvantages and human rights violations to those targeted; the supervision measures to be introduced to correct long-term detention in immigration facilities will preserve the immigration bureau’s large discretionary authority, and the bill will be used as a means of preventing the death of foreigners who have been detained in immigration facilities for a long time. The supervision measures to be introduced to correct long-term detention in immigration facilities will lead to the preservation of the immigration bureau’s large discretionary authority. Japan’s immigration administration, which has been repeatedly pointed out for its lack of consideration for human rights, must be fundamentally reformed.
Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, has approximately 500 provisionally released Kurds residing in the city. The city takes the impoverished situation of its Kurdish residents very seriously and submitted a written request to the Minister of Justice in December 2020, requesting work permits and health insurance coverage for those on provisional release. We understand that this is a realization of the philosophy of regional coexistence by the local government.
The city of Kamakura is also committed to regional symbiosis and aims to realize a society in which “no One is Left Behind,” which is also linked to human security, which the Japanese government has positioned as a major pillar of its foreign policy. In the city, there is also a facility of the NPO Arrupe Refugee Center, where refugees live, which has started to serve as a center for regional symbiosis, connecting refugees and the local community.
The Kamakura City Council believes that a country or society that is cold to refugees who are persecuted and seek asylum in fear for their lives is a country or society that is cold to all people, and requests that the following items be promptly implemented by the government.
1 Refugee Recognition
The Immigration Bureau should establish an independent organization in charge of refugee recognition, clarify the criteria for recognition, and create a system in which attorneys are present during the recognition process, in order to change the situation in which refugees who should be protected are not recognized.
2 Detention in immigration facilities
The current situation in which, in principle, all foreign nationals without a status of residence are detained in immigration facilities should be promptly changed, and indefinite detention at the discretion of the Immigration Bureau should be eliminated. The supervision measures introduced in the revised bill should be changed to those that position detention as an exception.
3 Problems of Poverty
Under the current system, individuals under provisional release are unsure about when they will be reincarcerated, and they are also unable to earn a living on their own. The government should make it possible for such persons to work if they are guaranteed by a support group, and provide administrative services such as health insurance on the responsibility of the government.
We submit our opinion in accordance with Article 99 of the Local Autonomy Law.
July 2, 2021