Bishops call for a society where the life and dignity of refugees and immigrants are protected
The sister of a Sri Lankan woman, Wishma Sandamali, who died while in Japanese immigration detention in 2021, speaks during a press conference in this file image. (Photo: AFP)
Catholic bishops in Japan have collected more than 100,000 signatures in a campaign against the possible tightening of the country’s immigrant law, calling it oppressive to refugees and immigrants.
The campaign to support refugees and immigrants by the Japanese bishops’ Commission on Migrants, Refugees, and People on the Move began in December 2021 and is ongoing as the government plans to toughen the Immigration Control Act, Fides news agency reported on Feb. 3.
Parliament reportedly rejected a proposal to make the law more stringent in 2021, but the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to reintroduce amendments this year.
Proposed changes include children, whose parents do not have residency status in Japan, being deported along with their parents despite being born and raised in the country.
“Even though they were born in Japan, were educated in Japanese schools, and speak only Japanese, a decision has been made to deport them because their parents do not have residence status and so they also lack such status. Since childhood they have been forced to live with anxiety,” the bishops’ commission said in a statement on Sept. 9 last year.
“We petition the Japanese government to consider assisting the 300 or so children born to and raised by parents without immigration status as well as their families who are at risk of deportation. We ask that they be granted special residence permits as a humanitarian gesture,” the statement added.
This new draft also proposes that “the return of asylum seekers and refugees to their countries of origin is possible even if there is a risk of persecution,” Fides reported.
Changes also include locking up immigrants without a residency permit in detention centers indefinitely and drastically reducing the “special permit system” and restricting the possibilities of re-entry.
The bishops’ commission along with six other civil society organizations issued a joint statement opposing the bill saying it “oppresses refugees and endangers the lives of those who do not yet have residency status.”
The Church and the groups call for “a society in which the life and dignity of refugees and immigrants are protected.”
The joint statement alluded to the death of a Sri Lankan immigrant, Wishma Sandamali, while being held by the Nagoya Immigration Service for allegedly violating immigration rules.
Sandamali, 33, was arrested in 2020 for overstaying her visa and died on March 6, 2021, after complaining about ill health. She was reportedly the 17th person to die while in Japanese immigration detention since 2007.
The Church and civil society groups pointed out that the generous help of many citizens and social institutions for Ukrainian refugees shows that “the exclusion of refugees is against the will of the people.”
They hoped that “there will be no more victims of inhumane detention and that people, such as refugees, who are in a difficult situation will not be excluded.”
“The daily life of citizens is made up of connections and relationships between people. Foreigners, Japanese, refugees, immigrants, residents, and non-residents live together as people. We demand a society that respects the life and human rights of every person living in it, where everyone can live in peace and where no one is truly left behind,” the statement said.
The Church and other groups called on the authorities to set up a special public legal and administrative body to deal with the protection of refugees and their integration into the social fabric.
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