Future Blog Plans

From here, the blog shall:

• Provide detailed information about "100 Days Action"
• Provide some explanations about Special Residence Permission. (There are cases of individuals who have been granted Special Residence Permission, even after entering the country without clearing Immigration!)
• Convey directly the voices of the individuals seeking Special Residence Permission. We hope to include video.
• Ask for your ideas! (Though we may not be able to carry out many due to limited staff and resources...)
• Update as often as earthly possible...
  

February 1, 2009: Symposium

The 100 Days Action campaign began in February. In fact, the event "The right of migrant workers and their families to live in Japan" held on February 1st, 2009, marked its launch. 80 people, a majority of whom were foreigners currently residing in Japan, came to for a keynote lecture and participate in lively discussion on related topics. Naturally, the whole event was conducted in Japanese - everyone's common language!

The Garcia Family

Family Structure:
Father (born in the Philippines)
Mother (born in the Philippines)
Daughter (born in Japan, 13 years old)
Son (born in Japan, 10 years old)

The father of the family, Rene Garcia, entered Japan in 1993. He entered the country for a three-day port call, but remained in Japan, making him an overstayer. The mother of the family, Mary Jane Garcia, came to Japan in the same year on an “entertainment” visa. Rene and Mary Jane, who were already married in the Philippines, then began to live together in Japan. Rene supported the family while working as a carpenter. Mary Jane worked at bars, etc. to support her parents left behind in the Philippines. Their daughter Arrianne is in her second year of junior high school, and their son Kevin is in his fifth year of elementary school. Both of their children were raised in Japan. They have of course never been to the Philippines.

Even without official permission to live in the country, the family lived a peaceful life until April, 2006, when an officer from the Immigration Bureau visited their home and discovered the family’s status. Rene and Mary Jane were sent to a detention center at the Immigration Bureau, and the children were sent to the Child Guidance Center. The parents panicked at being suddenly torn apart from their children and signed documents relinquishing their right to an oral hearing. Deportation orders were issued, dated May 1st for the father and April 28th for the mother. In September, 2006, Mary Jane was granted a temporary release and was able to be reunited with her children. However, Rene was not granted a temporary release of more than a year. Subsequent deportation orders were then ordered for the children on September 14th of that year.

The family filed a case with the Tokyo District Court to allow them to stay in Japan (which at the time they had resided in for more than 13 years), but lost the case in 2007. They then appealed to a higher court, but also lost that case in March, 2008. In January 2009, the Supreme Court rejected their call for a retrial. In this case, their only remaining course of action is to obtain a special residency permit.

Even though an oral hearing is of vital importance in the deportation procedure, the Immigration Bureau virtually coerced Rene and Mary Jane into relinquishing their right for such a hearing. In most cases up until now where a family has been granted a special residency permit, either the family has been caught by the authorities or the family had turned themselves in after the children had reached junior high school age. In this case, the daughter Arrianne was in the fifth year of elementary school when the family’s status was discovered. However, she has been attending a municipal junior high school since April, 2008.

Calderon couple to exit in April; daughter to stay

Here's a newspaper article on the Calderon family (Japan Times, March 14th, 2009)

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090314a1.html

Provisional Release successfully extended!

We have some news from the APFS office.

Today, I went to the Immigration Bureau with one of the 17 families applying for Special Residence Permission. Each family needs to go to Immigration periodically to extend their provisional release status, and staff from APFS accompanies them on each trip.Fortunately, the extension was approved today, which comes as a small relief. But we know that, with each return, we have to prepare ourselves for the possibility of detention.

As a rule, Immigration requires that individual/s seeking provisional release extensions talk with Immigration Bureau staff for what they refer to as "convincing applicants to return 'home'". However, applicants usually experience this as intimidation. Thus it comes as no surprise that the family today was told, "There is no difference between your case and the Calderon's. How do you think this will end?" That is, Immigration staff overtly insinuated that they can deport the family at any time.

It was an awful feeling seeing the family's teary eyes when they returned after the talk was over. It always is.

about APFS

APFS was established in the late 1980's when “newcomers” (the latest wave of immigrants) were making their way to Japan in great numbers. Japan was at the height of an economic bubble. However, it was long before the word “multiculturalism” became widely acknowledged in Japanese society, and foreign residents in Japan often had to face harsh reality of prejudice and oppression at their work place and in their daily lives . Under such circumstances, APFS was formed by Bangladeshi and Japanese members with the aim of creating a flourishing multicultural society in Japan based on a trusting relationship among its members. APFS started its history by fostering friendship between the Bangladeshi and Japanese, but we today have over 3200 members from 13 different countries.

Living in Japan as a non-Japanese resident can be quite tough sometimes., particularly if you are a undocumented migrant. APFS provide support to non-Japanese residents through our consultation service that covers various issues such as medical care, visa status and labour problems. We also put a lot of effort into education programs to raise awareness regarding cultural diversity in Japanese society.

School Girl Makes Japan Uneasy

School Girl Makes Japan Uneasy

A test link to a Forbes article on the Calderon family.
Both the parents came to Japan more than 15 years ago from the Philippines with forged passports. They had been requesting the Japanese govenmet grant special residence permit to them, but the govenment granted the permit only to their 13 years old child, Noriko. The parents have recently decided to leave Japan in April after they attend a Noriko's school ceremony.