English 
Japanese 
Spanish 
French 
Bengali 
Myanmar 
Nepali 
Tagalog 
Urdu 
Thai 
Persian 
ZWC_yamada 
On October 28, 2017, the second phase of the "Family Together!" campaign was held at the Itabashi Ward Cultural Center, with 11 children seeking special permission to stay in Japan and their supporters participating. This meeting came about in response to a strong request from those seeking special permission to stay in Japan at the campaign's kickoff event last month, who asked for a forum where children could talk to each other. The children shared their thoughts mainly about their relationships with their families, school life, future career paths, and employment, and engaged in a lively exchange of opinions.
While family is the closest people to children, we learned that their feelings towards them vary greatly depending on the situation. Some children expressed frank opinions such as, "While I understand that my parents cannot return to their home country, I sometimes feel responsible for their continued undocumented stay," revealing their internal conflicts.
Regarding school life, everyone said they were studying hard and having fun with their friends. However, the children who belonged to sports clubs in their extracurricular activities expressed concerns about injuries and were unable to play to their full potential. This is because undocumented immigrants cannot join health insurance, making it difficult for them to receive treatment at hospitals. Thus, even if school life appears fulfilling, the impact of not having a valid residence status is unavoidable.
The biggest challenges for these children going forward are, of course, their future career paths and employment. Because undocumented immigrants are not permitted to work, they cannot find jobs. Some children spoke of the harsh reality that even if they go on to higher education, they cannot even find part-time jobs to cover their tuition fees.
It was also impressive to see that some participants in the meeting were children who had previously lacked residency status, and they shared their own experiences, encouraging the children by saying, "Never give up."
At the end of the meeting, the children wrote on cards their strong desire to obtain residency status and stay in Japan. We hope to submit these cards during negotiations with the Ministry of Justice. We will continue our efforts to ensure that the children's heartfelt wish is fulfilled.