English 
Japanese 
Spanish 
French 
Bengali 
Myanmar 
Nepali 
Tagalog 
Urdu 
Thai 
Persian 
apfseditor 
On Sunday, February 8, 2015, a meeting for those involved was held at the APFS office from 4pm. Although it was unfortunately raining that day, nearly 30 people involved and their families gathered to discuss what they wanted to do, what they should do, and future actions to take as they work towards the culmination of the "Road to Hope Project - Seeking Legalization for Undocumented Residents" that began in June 2014. In light of the harsh and unstable living conditions that result from not having a resident status, the following opinions were expressed:
- Petition to municipalities again
- Most Japanese people have no idea that there are foreigners in such difficult situations. Activities to raise awareness of their existence, especially for young people and children, are necessary.
- In order to persuade more people and expand the circle of support, we will create a booklet that can be used to explain to Japanese people who are unfamiliar with the situation, such as the origins of irregular migrants, their history, and Japan's responsibility as a nation.
- It takes time to obtain a residence status. In addition, they cannot work during provisional release, which makes life difficult. As a temporary measure to support their livelihood, we will take action to promote the expansion of government services available to irregular residents.
- Demonstrations and petitions to directly convey messages to the Ministry of Justice. When making petitions, how about including a description of the skills that undocumented residents currently possess, and how they would be able to contribute to Japan if they were granted a resident status?
Afterwards, the venue moved to the Green Hall for an exchange of opinions, including with supporters.
We spoke with the representatives of the two support groups about how the groups started, what support activities they have carried out so far, and what activities they have planned for the future. As support activities continue for a long time, the people involved can become impatient, and when the results are not what the people involved had hoped for, there can be differences between the people involved and the supporters about the next direction, and it appears that the road to support is not a smooth one. In their talks, there was also a message from the supporters to the people involved, asking them to make their strong desire to "stay in Japan" clear. In the future, APFS would like to help strengthen the foundation of support by creating a "Support Group Metropolitan Liaison Committee."