APFS 100-Day Action to Nurture Children's Dreams Report 5: Postcard Campaign in Front of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau (1st Time)

APFS is working on a "100-Day Action to Nurture Children's Dreams" to obtain special permission to stay in Japan for 10 children who are illegally residing in Japan and have already been issued deportation orders. In some families, it has been suggested that they will be allowed to stay in Japan if the children alone promise to return to their home country, so the situation is urgent.

To begin the "100-Day Action," we held a "Children's Conference" on August 29th to listen to the problems the children were facing and how they were planning to solve them. The children raised the following issues:
—Unable to work part-time and therefore unable to help my parents (financially)
—Not being able to get health insurance (enduring illness without going to the hospital)
—I don't know what the future holds, so I can't do what I want to do.
—Will I be able to go to college (will the school accept me)?

These children are trying to change their circumstances with their own hands. They express their determination by saying, "We want to break down the visa barrier," and "We want to get a visa and be free."
As solutions to the problem, they suggest "telling people around you about the situation and gaining their understanding," "informing the media," and "organizing a demonstration to publicly demonstrate the seriousness of the issue."
In response to the opinions of the children mentioned above, APFS held a "Request and Postcard Campaign to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau for the Status of Children in Illegal Residence" on October 23 (Friday) from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM.

I made the following two requests to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau:
1. Please grant residency to our children promptly so that they can fulfill their dreams for the future in Japan.
2. Please do not separate parents and children. Grant special permission for residence to parents so that children can live in peace.

Along with the request, we also submitted a petition written by the children. We were told that both the request and the petition would be seen by the Director of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau. They will also be sent to the Minister of Justice.
I sincerely hope that you will consider the contents of our requests and petitions.

Meanwhile, in front of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, children, in particular, collected postcards requesting support. Although it was only a short time, nearly 100 postcards were collected.
We also saw messages saying, "Because this child was born in Japan, they should stay in Japan."

APFS will continue its 100-day action.
We would appreciate your support and cooperation.