The Higashi-Nihon Immigration Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture
10:22 JST, June 10, 2024
Tokyo (Jiji Press) – Japan on Monday presented its revised Immigration Control and Refugee Law, marking a major change in rules for the detention and repatriation of foreigners without residency status.
The amendment introduces an exception to the blanket suspension of deportation introduced while applications for refugee status are being processed, allowing the government to deport third and subsequent applicants unless they have a valid reason.
The revised law, which was passed last year during the regular session of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, is intended to quickly return foreigners who have been in Japan illegally.
The previous version of the law did not set a limit on the number of times refugee status had to be applied for. Some applicants abused the system by repeatedly submitting applications to avoid deportation.
According to Japan’s Immigration Department, the number of people considered deportation evaders whose refugee applications were being processed reached 1,629 at the end of 2021.
The government decided to make an exception to the suspension of deportation, finding that abuse of the system led to long-term detention in immigration facilities.
The revised law also provides for the introduction of a system that allows refugee status seekers to live outside immigration facilities under the supervision of relatives or sympathizers while their deportation proceedings progress.
For those detained in immigration facilities, the agency will consider every three months whether to allow them to live outside immigration facilities under the surveillance system.
The revised law has raised concerns that refugees in need of protection will be sent back to their home countries where they could face persecution.
“We will take strict action against those who break the rules while protecting those who need to be protected,” Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi told a news conference on Friday. “We will keep the intended purpose of the revised law in mind as we enforce it.”
