Japan’s Aversion to Refugees

In early 2022, Japan shocked the international community when it announced it would open its borders to thousands of Ukrainian refugees. Japan is notoriously strict about accepting asylum seekers, and its remarkable shift toward Ukrainian refugees gave hope that the government’s stance on refugees had finally changed.

But the latest amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act is a major setback for refugee applicants, who can be deported on their third application for refugee status. Criminal penalties will also be applied if an applicant refuses to be repatriated.

The revised law limits refugee applications to two per person. This raises concerns for the safety of applicants who are repatriated to a country where they face persecution. Even those who came to Japan as young children face automatic deportation on their third application, which can lead to families being split up.

The revision came in response to a series of deaths of foreign nationals held in immigration detention. It aims to prevent the long-term detention of foreigners who do not have a valid visa status. But it does so by streamlining deportations, not addressing fundamental flaws in the refugee screening process or living conditions in detention.

Japan has garnered a reputation for its tough refugee intake policy. Japan accepts about 0.4 percent of applicants, compared to 55 percent in Canada and 46 percent in the United Kingdom. Number have climbed a bit in recent years, but remain in the 4-5 percent range. For instance, in 2021 from 2,413 applications, Japan granted refugee status to just 74 refugees, mostly from African nations. Last year, the number of refugees accepted spiked to 202 from 3,772 applications.

The Immigration Bureau has not revealed the exact process used to grant or deny refugee recognition. But, in 2021 a Justice Ministry official stated that applications are judged based on how convincing an applicant's case is due to a lack of objective evidence.

Currently, during the refugee visa process, applicants are typically held in an immigration detention facility for an “indefinite” period. They can apply for provisional release under exceptional circumstances such as health problems. Foreign nationals who are temporarily released are barred from employment and public healthcare.

Under the revised law, the length of stay in detention has not changed. Instead, a new “guardian system” will be established allowing refugee applicants to be temporarily released under the care of a “custodian.” However, applications for such a conditional release from detention will only be accepted every three months.

There has been mounting criticism over detention conditions in Japan, particularly the lack of medical care, which led to the death of 30-year-old Sri Lankan national Wishma Sandamali in 2021. Surveillance footage showed Wishma begging to see a doctor after complaining of ill health. The detention facility staff are seen mocking her. An incident report revealed a common mentality among detention guards in which detainees are believed to exaggerate health problems to qualify for provisional release.

Lessons from Wishma’s death appear to have fallen on deaf ears. After each death in immigration detention, the government has pledged to prevent future tragedies, but deaths have continued. Since 2007, 17 foreigners have died of illness or suicide at immigration facilities nationwide, and the state of the medical system in the facilities has repeatedly come into question.

For example, the Osaka Immigration Bureau has been without a full-time doctor since January, when the sole doctor was placed on leave amid suspicions he had examined a detainee while intoxicated. The Immigration Bureau has not taken any action against the physician, who is “under investigation” but remains formally employed at the facility. Nearly six months later, an Immigration Bureau representative said they have no plan to recruit another full-time doctor to provide care to detainees.

On the day the amendment was passed, a group of lawyers condemned the Osaka detention facility for announcing that “improvements to the medical system were advancing.”

The amendment has triggered a series of protests calling for it to be scrapped. As the bill reached its final parliamentary deliberation, some 5,500 protesters assembled outside the National Diet in Tokyo. One member of parliament, Yamamoto Taro, attempted to physically obstruct some members from voting in support of the bill, which led to a physical scuffle. Yamamoto was referred to the disciplinary committee. He justified his actions by stating that the bill harmed foreigners’ rights in Japan.

Despite the opposition, the bill was successfully passed on June 9.

Japan is a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which stipulates that a refugee applicant cannot be forcibly deported. Historically, Japan was not a refugee accepting country until it ratified the convention in 1981. A legal framework for refugees status was only set up in 2018. The United Nations has repeatedly warned the Japanese government to change its passive stance toward refugees. However, Japanese authorities dismissed such warnings, which are not backed up by legal consequences.