APFS "100 Days of Action to Nurture Children's Dreams" Concluding Discussion

On Sunday, January 17, 2016, a concluding discussion forum was held at Itabashi Green Hall to mark the end of the "100-Day Action to Nurture Children's Dreams." At the beginning, APFS Representative Director Jotaro Kato reflected on the 100-day action.

At the "Children's Conference," which marked the start of the activities, the children each wrote their honest feelings on cards. While some spoke of future aspirations such as "I want to travel abroad," "I want to get married," and "I want to go to college," others expressed anxieties about not having a residence status, such as "I don't have insurance" and "My name will become known at high school." The "solutions" the children came up with to obtain residence status included suggestions such as "asking the media for cooperation," "appealing to television," and "appealing to the Ministry of Justice," and they considered what they could do. Some entries also revealed the children's feelings, such as "I want to be free soon" and "Don't take away my freedom." The "Children's Conference" became an opportunity for the children to think for themselves and take action.

Next, in September 2015, lobbying efforts were launched targeting members of parliament. Eight children visited House of Representatives member Shiori Yamao and directly appealed to her to grant them residency.

In October and November, during the "We want to fulfill our dreams in Japan! Postcard campaign to support children who are undocumented immigrants," children raised their voices in front of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau and asked for signatures on postcards. As a result, nearly 150 postcards were collected and sent to the Ministry of Justice. This activity also received media coverage. On November 25th, a press conference was held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, where two representatives of the children answered questions from reporters.

In parallel with these 100 days of action, "support groups" were organized in the communities where the children live, and activities were carried out to help them obtain residency status. In particular, a signature campaign conducted in cooperation with the Iranian mother and child gathered nearly 2,000 signatures, expanding the circle of support.

On December 20th, we took to the streets of Shibuya and held a parade. After the parade, the "APFS 100-Day Action Resolution to Nurture Children's Dreams" was unanimously adopted, and with the support of 22 researchers who study foreigners and immigrants, the resolution was sent to the Ministry of Justice on January 12, 2016.

The review concluded with the following points. One of the achievements of the activities was the growth of the children. It was reported that the children, who had previously hesitated to appear in public, had become proactive in addressing their own issues. In addition, it was mentioned that awareness of undocumented immigrants was raised through media outreach and appeals at the parade.

Next, participants in the audience shared their reflections on the 100 days of activities and also proposed future actions. Children shared comments such as, "The activities made me feel more positive," "I want to work hard on signature campaigns and other activities in the future," and "I was sometimes hurt by insensitive words, but persevering and not giving up gave me confidence." APFS volunteer staff members offered opinions such as, "Both those affected by irregular immigration and Japanese people need to speak out and raise awareness further," and "We should inform many Japanese people about the current situation where things that are taken for granted by Japanese people, such as higher education and health insurance, are difficult for irregular immigrants." In conclusion, advisor Katsuo Yoshinari addressed irregular immigrants seeking special permission to stay in Japan, saying, "You can't leave it to others. You can only achieve results by speaking up and taking action yourself," and shared an anecdote about a Myanmar woman who was an irregular immigrant in the past and even asked the person sitting next to her on the train to sign a petition, which led to her obtaining her own residence status.

Finally, the representative director outlined the next action plan, including lobbying the Ministry of Justice. The meeting concluded with a confirmation of the commitment to further advance activities.

We received support and cooperation from many people during our 100-day campaign. We would like to express our sincere gratitude.
Our efforts to secure their residency will continue. We kindly ask for your continued support and cooperation.