[Thank you for your cooperation] "We want to fulfill our dreams in Japan!" Postcard campaign to support children in undocumented Japanese immigration.

Thank you for your cooperation.
With the cooperation of many people, we mailed approximately 150 postcards to the Ministry of Justice on Monday, December 21st.
We hope the Ministry of Justice and the Immigration Bureau will receive your postcards.
Thank you for your cooperation.

APFS has been working on the "APFS 100-Day Action to Nurture Children's Dreams" (*1) since September 2015.
Up until now, we have been engaged in various activities aimed at enabling children who are undocumented immigrants to fulfill their future dreams, including "children's conferences," "lobbying members of parliament," "street signature campaigns," "establishing local support groups," and "press conferences at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan."
Their activities have been covered by multiple media outlets.

● Asahi Shimbun
●The Japan Times
● Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (video)

Next, coinciding with Human Rights Week (*2) (December 4th-10th), we will launch the "Postcard Campaign to Support Children in Illegal Relocation Who Want to Fulfill Their Dreams in Japan!"
If you agree with the following points, please send a postcard with your signature and message to the Ministry of Justice.
Many of these messages will help change the Ministry of Justice and enable children to fulfill their dreams in Japan. We would greatly appreciate your cooperation.

<Purpose>
1. Please promptly grant special permission for residence so that our children can fulfill their dreams in Japan.
2. Please do not separate parents and children. Grant special permission for residence to parents so that children can live in peace.

<How to obtain a postcard>
You can download postcard templates from the link below.
Please print this on a government-issued postcard before use (please set your printer's paper size to "postcard").

● Front (address)
download
●Back side (message area)
download

*If you are a group and wish to submit multiple entries, we will mail you the postcards.
(We apologize for the inconvenience, but please affix a 52-yen stamp before mailing.)
Please contact us at the following address to let us know the number of copies you need and the shipping address.

<Notes>
1. Please mail your postcard between December 4th and 10th, which is Human Rights Week.
2. We will tally the number of postcards that have been mailed. If you have mailed a postcard,
We apologize for the inconvenience, but please inform us of the number of mailings you will be sending at the following contact information.

<Contact Information>
TEL 03-3964-8739 FAX 03-3579-0197 E-mail apfs-1987@nifty.com

＜100 Days of Action to Nurture Children's DreamsWhat is that? (*1)
There are 60,007 undocumented immigrants in Japanese society. Among them are children born to undocumented immigrant parents. APFS has seen firsthand the difficulties faced by children of undocumented immigrants in Japanese society in raising their dreams. Children cannot choose the family they are born into. Is it truly appropriate to hold children accountable for the crime of being undocumented immigrants? Children struggle daily with the anxiety that they may be "sent back" to the "home country" of parents they don't know. This makes it impossible for them to nurture their dreams.

Children who are illegally residing in Japan cannot enroll in health insurance. Some children endure not going to the hospital even when they are sick. Others are afraid to play sports because they worry about getting injured. Some children have been told that they may not be able to take the entrance exam for public high school, and they spend every day worrying about whether they will be able to take the exam or not. Furthermore, there are children who have been approached by the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Bureau with the offer that their residency status would be granted only to them, on the condition that their parents return to their home country.

However, these children who are undocumented immigrants have not given up on their dreams despite their precarious circumstances. They continue to hold onto their dreams, such as "I want to show filial piety to my parents in Japan," "I want to work in elderly care and take care of the elderly," and "I want to work at an airport and make a name for myself internationally."

Since September 2015, APFS has been working on the "APFS 100-Day Action to Nurture Children's Dreams." To date, we have engaged in various activities such as "Children's Conferences," "Lobbying Members of Parliament," "Street Signature Campaigns," and "Establishing Support Groups in Local Communities."
The "postcard campaign" was held in October and November in front of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, and more than 100 postcards have already been collected.

＜Human Rights WeekWhat is that? (*2)
At its third General Assembly on December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard to be achieved by all peoples and all nations in order to secure fundamental human rights, which are the basis of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Subsequently, at its fifth General Assembly on December 4, 1950, the United Nations adopted a resolution designating December 10, the day the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, as "Human Rights Day," and calling on all member states and relevant organizations to celebrate this day and to hold events to promote human rights activities.

In Japan, the Ministry of Justice and the National Federation of Human Rights Commissioners have designated the week ending December 10th (December 4th to December 10th) as "Human Rights Week" since 1949 to commemorate the adoption of the declaration. There are 17 annual emphasis points, and "Respect the human rights of foreigners" is one of them. (Excerpted in part from the Ministry of Justice website)