Exposing the Cruel Reality of Refugees in Japan

Recognition rate 0.5 People living in a state of “provisional release” while repeatedly applying for refugee status by%.

The invasion by Russian forces that began on February 24 displaced 1 million people living in Ukraine across the border by March 3, and by March 8 the number had reached 2 million, with the number increasing daily.

Ukraine’s population is 44.13 million (2020). This means that about 1 in 20 of the population has already been evacuated. Many have fled to neighboring Poland, but eight people, mostly with relatives or acquaintances, have already entered Japan as “displaced persons. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced at a press conference on August 8 that the visa application process for the refugees has been simplified and that 90-day short-term visas are now being issued.

After their 90-day visas expire, these refugees will be granted a status of residence classified as “specified activities” (6-12 months), which will allow them to work, and they will continue to renew their status until the situation improves. But what will be done after that? What if those people apply for refugee status? In fact, problems abound.

As many people are aware from the recent frequent media reports, Japan has rarely granted refugee status to applicants. 85,479 applicants have applied for refugee status since the refugee status system began in 1982, and only 841 have been granted (in 2021), a 0.5 % grant rate. What should be done with Ukraine’s displaced persons? When asked about the future of the government, the government only responded, “We will recognize them as appropriate,” and there is no clear future for the government.

What will happen to those who have applied for refugee status but have not been recognized, and who are unable to return home due to the unstable situation in their home countries? They are detained in the infamous “Immigration and Residency Management Agency” facilities and then live in Japan under the guise of “provisional release” while repeating the refugee application process. However, this provisional release system is so terrible.

A state of being unable to live…

There are currently 5,781 parolees in the country (end of 2020). These people are not allowed to work, cannot receive public assistance, and cannot use any social security such as national health insurance. So how will they survive?

In a word, it is a state of being unable to survive.”

At a press conference held at the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare on August 9 to report on the “Survey Report on the Living Conditions of Provisionally Released Foreigners,” Yuma Osawa of the Kitakanto Medical Consultation Association, which provides support for provisionally released foreigners, stated strongly in a somewhat angry tone.

Parolees are not allowed to work. They are not allowed to earn wages at all.

If you go to a hospital, you have to pay the full amount yourself. Naturally, since they cannot afford to pay, they have to put up with a lot, and sometimes they become seriously ill and are transported to emergency rooms, or even die. The hospital that accepts the patient also derives an unpaid debt.

Even if they cannot pay their rent and become homeless, they cannot receive public assistance, so they are kept in that state,” said Osawa.

One Cameroonian woman, Mai, 42, actually died that way.

The situation in her homeland became unstable while she relied on her relatives to come to Japan due to domestic violence by her partner. While she was unable to return to Japan, her overstay was discovered and she was once detained at an immigration facility. She was released on provisional release, but her breast cancer spread to her entire body. Without proper medical treatment, he became homeless, living at friends’ houses from time to time, and finally was hospitalized with support, but died in January 2021. Ironically, the same day she passed away, she received a residence card that recognized her residency status.

In a similar case, a woman on parole developed ovarian cancer and was unable to undergo surgery due to financial difficulties; her supporters collected donations and she received treatment and survived.

The worst was a case in which a woman on parole received a medical fee of 300 yen for medical treatment in order to take advantage of the inbound traffic. You raise the rate to %, and you always try to apply it to parolees as well. And it is happening in state-affiliated hospitals. I don’t see any attitude of trying to help the poor living in the community. It is unbelievable. A system that causes people to die should not be left as it is.

Ripping off foreigners on parole to pay three times as much for medical care as Japanese?　It is hard to keep one’s mouth shut, but it is not only illness that is troubling.

I bowed my head to many people asking for help, begging for help, and here I am…

There are women on parole who are constantly being asked to have sexual relations with others because they will give them money to live on. I guess you could call this slavery. I think. There are mothers and children from Southeast Asia who have children but cannot work and continue to receive unpaid school lunch fees from the school,” said Osawa.

Mr. Myo Choo Choo, a Rohingya man who came to Japan in 2006 after being persecuted in Myanmar, was also present at the press conference. Mr. Myo has applied for refugee status three times but has yet to be approved, and lives in Japan on provisional release.

How have you been living all this time? When people say, “Please, please, please,” I bow to many people and ask them to help me, and here I am.

People who are getting provisional release, I really can’t do anything. I came to Japan for help. I want to live in a peaceful and safe country and do my best to be myself,” said Myo.

Myo’s father also took refuge in Bangladesh from Myanmar. However, he passed away last month due to illness. Some reporters at the press conference were moved to tears as Myo cried, “I couldn’t send money to my father for his medical treatment because I couldn’t work.

Another man on parole, whose name and hometown could not be disclosed, was also present at the press conference. A few days earlier, he had fallen on the stairs at a train station and was unable to walk. He told us that he had been asked to stop because he could not afford to pay. Then, he said, he was asked if he could pay for the

Electricity, gas, water, food, everything, everything is very difficult. I applied for refugee status three times, but everything was denied. It’s so hard, so hard. Please help me.

He made this appeal in the most sincere manner. These people on provisional release are desperately trying to learn Japanese and live in Japanese society.

Illegal aliens without visas should go home! Some people simply say. But just look at the situation in Ukraine. Can you say the same thing to her or them?　They are people who have reasons for not being able to return, although the degree of their situation may differ. Some have already had most of their family members killed in their homeland because of anti-government movements, etc.

The most important thing is to get them work permits. The most important thing is to get work permits. Percent are of working age (20 50’s to 50’s The survey revealed that they are in their 20s.

If they can work, they can manage. The most effective and reasonable way to preserve the lives and livelihoods of parolees is to provide them with work permits.

Since last year, we have been issuing “specified activity” visas for six months to some Myanmarese nationals (note: this is something we are planning to issue to Ukrainian nationals as well)” (Mr. Osawa).

Issuing work permits does not require changing any laws if the “specified activity” system is used. It is something that can be done immediately, and they want it done immediately.

The hardest part about not being able to work is the psychological aspect. People who should be able to work are bowing and lowering their heads, asking for rent and food, which of course takes a toll on their mental health,” said Osawa.

Japan’s working population has begun to decline since 2020. Due to the declining population and rapidly aging society, there will be fewer and fewer people working. The only hope is foreign workers, but by 2030 there will be a shortage of 630,000 foreign workers (according to a JICA research institute).

If there are foreign nationals who are willing to work, having them work will support our livelihood. If we continue with our anti-foreigner stance in the first place, the number of foreigners who will come to Japan to work in the future will decrease further, and the situation will become more serious even if we do not wait for the year 2030.

The harsh treatment of the parolees is a human rights issue that offends their dignity, and it is also an issue for our livelihood. We should seriously consider this issue.

Click here for the website of the NPO “North Kanto Medical Consultation Group (AMIGOS ) “