Alarm caused by imminent passage of immigration law reform bills

Friday 03rd July, 04:39 AM JST

TOKYO —

Foreign residents and their supporters aired their concerns Thursday about the imminent Diet passage of bills to revise immigration laws, claiming the amendments are intended to tighten controls on non-Japanese residents and that modifications made so far to the bills are not sufficient. The bills are currently being deliberated at the House of Councillors Judicial Affairs Committee and the ruling bloc wants to enact them as soon as next week, while some opposition members are calling for more caution in examining them, said Sohei Nihi, an upper house member of the opposition Japanese Communist Party. On June 19, the bills cleared the House of Representatives with support from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner the New Komeito party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan. The three parties agreed on revisions to the bills such as deleting a clause that requires permanent residents of Korean and Taiwanese descent to always carry a residency card.

Foreign residents and their supporters again raised their voices against the bills and demanded they be scrapped in a meeting held Thursday at the upper house members’ office building. Sonoko Kawakami, campaign coordinator of Amnesty International Japan, criticized the government for not providing any information on the planned revisions in foreign languages to non-Japanese residents. ‘‘The government should translate Diet deliberations on the bills into foreign languages and set an occasion to hear foreigners’ views,’’ she said. Kim Boong Ang, co-representative of the Organization of United Korean Youth in Japan, said he believes the greatest problem with the bills is that they increase the requirements for non-Japanese residents to stay legally in the country. ‘‘The government will become able to expel foreign residents more easily. Pressures have been mounting on us to leave the country if we do not like Japanese rules,’’ Kim said. The proposed revisions of the immigration laws would impose a fine of up to 200,000 yen on foreigners who fail to notify the government of a change in address within 14 days, and their residency status could be revoked if they fail to report changes within 90 days. Foreign spouses of Japanese or non-Japanese permanent residents could lose their residency status if they fail to ‘‘conduct activities normally carried out by spouses’’ for six months under the revised immigration laws, but victims of domestic violence would be immune to that condition. Although the modification deleted the requirement for permanent residents of Korean and Taiwanese descent to always carry the residency card to identify them, Kim said it would not necessarily lessen the burden on those residents because they are still required by Japanese authorities to present the card whenever requested.

Kyodo

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Latest 15 of 108 Total Comments Show All

OneForAll at 11:35 AM JST - 4th July

"conduct activities normally carried out by spouses" : This is easy. It is to stop fake marriages. Lamborghini : Get your hips replaced in Tokyo as suggested and be thankful. The Japanese are not after you unless you create a lot of disharmony. Japanese do not traditionally interfere with families even if there are laws. Be cool and nice. You have rednecks everywhere and it just amazes me that mankind has made such progress. Seems like the good win out in the end. At least that is what I have seen on my pilgrimage on Earth.
LoveUSA at 11:37 AM JST - 4th July

I have just paid for a reentry permit, if in a few days the reentry permit practice is abolished, can I get my money back? thanks :)
outofmydepth at 11:45 AM JST - 4th July

by the y`all - the japanese DID complain when they tried to get a language requirement in the UK. they got heard.
Canuckgal at 12:36 PM JST - 4th July

UnagiDon:

I hope you're right about not having to go to the immigration office for address/workplace changes - the immigration office in Tokyo is already jam-packed and its staff are overworked now - if they have to handle all the nitpicky stuff as well as the big changes, people will be lined up all the way to Shinagawa station and the staff will be dropping dead of karoshi.

Lamborghini:

Good luck with the hip surgery. I've heard good things about Tamagawa too. Be sure to do your exercises BEFORE surgery (starting NOW) to get your muscles in shape to hold in the implant(s).
JpMoonkey at 04:46 PM JST - 4th July

YOU should be posting that to the *******Chinese, Koreans and Taiwanese*******. Lamborghini: It seems that you know little about Japan and the 'history' of its immigration law. Many, many years ago, when Japan 'first' started to "finger-print" foreigners it was the Koreans who fought/campaigned on behalf all other foreigners. Some of them had the courage to fight boldly while foreigners from other countries were just silent! You may have something against the Chinese, Koreans and Taiwanese, but please don't insult/hurt their feelings in public/here. I am grateful to them for what I have achieved in Japan. I have met foreigners (with various visa status) from many countries and tell them this same story.
amerijap at 05:48 AM JST - 5th July

I like how all the hakujin on here whine. They're basically saying, "I'm American/European and deserve special rights."

You're completely FISH OUT OF WATER in this discussion. Go someplace like "stuff white people like," if you want to spit out your cynicism that only makes you a sore loser.
JpMoonkey at 03:11 PM JST - 5th July

YOU should be posting that to the Chinese, Koreans and Taiwanese.

Lamborghini: It seems that you know little about Japan and the 'history' of its immigration law. Many, many years ago, when Japan 'first' started to "finger-print" foreigners it was the Koreans who fought/campaigned on behalf all other foreigners. Some of them had the courage to fight boldly while foreigners from other countries were just silent! You may have something against the Chinese, Koreans and Taiwanese, but please don't insult/hurt their feelings in public/here. I am grateful to them for what I have achieved in Japan. I have met foreigners (with various visa status) from many countries and have told them and continue telling this same story.
amerijap at 07:01 AM JST - 6th July

If Japan can avoid that kind of scenario, more power to them.

Japan has quite a different situation from the US who has over 12 million undocumented immigrants in its mainland. Typically, most foreigners fly to Japan and get into the immigration and customs at the airport security, rather than sailing across the Pacific Ocean or Sea of Japan by ship which harbors a bunch of unidentified individuals as stowaways in freight containers. Compared to the US, Japan’s case is benign and relatively easy to modify the current system, since foreign residents represent only 1% of total 128 million people-- which is a total population of Japan. It is NOT about the foreigners who enter into Japan illegally, it is about the foreign residents who may break the law by sneaking up on the land or intentionally overstaying in the country after the expiration of their D/S(duration of stay). But, even so, there’s no need to make a federal case out of it, unless the overstaying foreign residents involve in serious criminal conducts that may threaten the national security or the lives of Japanese citizens. All the JP government needs to do upon those illegal foreign residents is arrest them and deport from Japan for good. By doing so, the government can ensure that those foreigners will never be able to get re-enter into Japan again. There's no need for the JP government to have more power on the issue, because the government already has enough power to control the legal/illegal aliens.
Jeff198524 at 10:08 AM JST - 6th July

I'm a sore loser? Why? Because I'm tired of everyone taking out their personal issues on Japan and blaming the "evil" Japanese.
jackfish at 03:06 PM JST - 6th July

I don't think the laws are clear enough, fair to all, nor are the lawmakers competent. But lets not throw all of Japan into the argument. The Japanese populous is not well represented by the diet, in my opinion. This country is full of good people, with an inept government. Anyway, this is all just blatant populist politics leading up to an election in a few weeks. So lets get our japanese spouses to go vote for some change, eh?
amerijap at 02:05 AM JST - 7th July

jackfish: I agree with you. Immigration law is very complicated due to its technicality of language. Even most Americans have a hard time understanding the laws of Immigration and Naturalization stipulated by the US department of Justice. I have sympathy with non-Japanese residents whose first language is neither Japanese nor English. I personally hold it responsible for the number of local media that sensationalize the immigration issue as bait-for hard line lawmakers to slam the door on the foreigners. It just reminds me of media's nation-wide hate-mongering campaign against the immigrants from the mid- to-late 19th century of America.
Foxie at 01:12 PM JST - 7th July

We could all stick together and do a silent demo by putting yellow stars made out of fabric with our number on as soon as we receive the new card and wear it at all times. The last demo in Tokyo didn't help at all and this would be easy and cheap to do it nationwide. This way it would be easier for the cops to know who is a legal alien and we would show that we completely co-operate with the authorities. Then inform major news stations and human right organizations worldwide about this discrimination. So...spread the word!
wibble at 06:25 PM JST - 7th July

amerijap "But, even so, there’s no need to make a federal case out of it, unless the overstaying foreign residents involve in serious criminal conducts that may threaten the national security or the lives of Japanese citizens" What does a federal case look like in Japan given Japan is not a federation?
amerijap at 01:31 AM JST - 8th July

wibble: Ah, actually "making a federal case out of it" is a figurative expression, which is similar to “going out of proportion“, “raising a racket” or “making a mountain out of molehill“. It's simply making an exaggeration for the situation which does not seem to be an emergency or national crisis.

Yeah, you're right. Japan is technically not a federation, and the government rarely encounters an impending crisis that requires them to invoke the martial law, or any legislative measure. The immigration and naturalization service usually detect some foreign residents who overstay in Japan by surpassing the expiration date of their D/S, but very few of them are involved in more serious crimes like human trafficking, smuggling drugs and weapons, and any other terror activities that will threat the national security.
federale at 07:21 AM JST - 9th July

Only illegal aliens have anything to worry about. And for those Koreans, why are they getting Noko passports if they have become Japanese in language and culture? They can get a Japanese travel document for foreigners.