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APFS continues to provide support for the legalization of undocumented immigrants.
Until the end of 2014, undocumented immigrants who had been issued a deportation order (an order to return to their home country) could file a "request for retrial" (an act of asking the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice to re-examine their case) based on changes in circumstances since the order was issued, and in fact, in several cases, their residency was permitted. However, since 2015, residency has hardly been permitted in such cases.
Furthermore, the number of "special permission to stay" (granted by the Minister of Justice to allow undocumented immigrants to stay in Japan) is also on the decline. Although "guidelines for special permission to stay" exist, clear criteria still do not exist, and the actual implementation of these guidelines remains unclear. Moreover, decisions that separate parents and children are actually being made by the Ministry of Justice and the Immigration Bureau. There are families and individuals who have been suffering for a long time without any prospects for the future, and resolving this problem is an urgent matter.
At APFS, lawyers working on lawsuits concerning undocumented immigrants, researchers in fields such as sociology, and members of support groups in the community who assist undocumented immigrants gathered to discuss special permission for residence based on the aforementioned "guidelines."
With the aim of considering how this should be done, we held three "Opinion Exchange Meetings on Special Permission to Stay in Japan" on September 1st (1st meeting), October 5th (2nd meeting), and December 9th (3rd meeting) in 2016.
In the first session, a lawyer presented the "trends in court cases," reporting that while there are many lawsuits challenging the "denial of special permission to stay in Japan," there are few successful cases. A major reason cited for this was the extremely broad discretion granted to the Minister of Justice. However, since 2001, there have also been cases where cases have been won based on the so-called principle of proportionality. Researchers pointed out that "it is strange that laws and guidelines do not have universality, even though they should," and "Japan is a signatory to international human rights treaties, yet it is acting in violation of them. The best interests of the child should be considered, but the court's judgment does not adhere to this."
In the second meeting, it was decided to evaluate several cases in accordance with the "Guidelines for Special Permission to Stay" in order to verify the "universality" of the "Guidelines for Special Permission to Stay." It was also proposed to submit recommendations regarding "Special Permission to Stay" to the Ministry of Justice's "Immigration Control Policy Consultative Meeting."
Furthermore, suggestions were made to consider the case before the European Court of Human Rights and to convey the current situation of undocumented immigrants when the UN Human Rights Committee visits Japan to conduct its review.
In the third session, the results of evaluating several cases in accordance with the "Guidelines for Special Permission to Stay in Japan" were reported. However, there were significant differences among evaluators regarding how to reflect "positive factors" and "negative factors," once again highlighting the difficulty of deciding whether or not to grant special permission to stay in Japan.
It was confirmed that, going forward, this meeting will not end as merely an "exchange of opinions," but will aim to make concrete recommendations to the Immigration Control Policy Consultative Council and other relevant bodies, and that the meeting will be renamed the "Citizens' Consultative Meeting on Special Permission to Stay in Japan" and its activities will continue.
Going forward, the challenges for the citizens' consultation group will include following up on past discussions at the Immigration Control Policy Consultation Group, and inviting researchers specializing in amnesty (universal legalization) and special residence permits in various countries to conduct hearings and other related activities.
Members of the "Citizens' Roundtable on Special Permission to Stay in Japan" (as of January 10, 2017)
Tetsuo Mizukami (Professor, Faculty of Sociology, Rikkyo University) *Chairperson
Koichi Kodama (Lawyer)
Tomoe Komai (Lawyer)
Yoshiaki Noro (Professor, Faculty of Sociology, Rikkyo University)
Tsuki (Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Ibaraki University)
Yoshinori Matsushima (Representative of the Association to Support Filipino Families)
Junpei Yamamura (Physician, Minatomachi Clinic)
Akiko Watanabe (Representative of the Association to Support Iranian Mothers and Children)
Chie Watanabe (Lawyer)
Jotaro Kato (APFS Representative Director)
Cho Heon-rae (APFS Full Member)
Mayumi Yoshida (Deputy Representative Director, APFS)
Katsuo Yoshinari (APFS Board Member and Advisor)