Japanese Government's Mysterious Policies Part1
日本の狂った法務省パート1
By: Imtiaz A. Chaudhry/イムテアーズ チョウドリー
The recent Ken Massey story is by no means a
new case. Japanese immigration has deported a number of gaijin moms and
dads when their spouses died or divorced. The law has changed in the past
few years, and spouses of Japanese nationals can get one-year visas if he
or she has Japanese kids. However, if divorced the gaijin parent can be
required to go back to his or her homeland.
There are three important and interesting points with the Ken Massey case.
Firstly, he has Japanese children who are still minors. Secondly he has
lived in Japan more than 17 years. Finally, Ken Massey does not have any
criminal record in Japan. Based on this, basic respect for the family unit
and international standards, I think immigration must grant permanent
residency or a long-term visa to Massey.
In most European countries if you are living more than three years and
married there you can get permanent residency very easily. Sweden even
grants voting rights. But in Japan you do not have any legal rights after
divorce, and you must leave Japan. Otherwise immigration will put you in
detention with a number of charges.
Japanese immigration policies are indeed mysterious and not understandable
for foreign residents, and I would like to clarify some of the injustice,
immoral rules and lack of respect for basic human decency that exists
under the current law:
1. Non-Japanese spouses not protected by law in Japan
Japanese law does not officially recognize non-Japanese spouses. For
example, if you are married to a Japanese national and have Japanese
children, your name will not be on your spouse's juminhyo (family resident
card). Of course, you can find your children's names there as if they only
had one parent. This means that the Japanese government does not accept
you as a mother or father of your children. You are invisible, without
legal rights and still a "temporary" guest like Ken Massey. Should you
divorce, the Japanese government can require you to leave Japan,
regardless of whatever separation, hardship or harm this will cause for
you and your Japanese children.
Since your spouse appears to be "unmarried" on the government records, he
or she will likely receive repeated letters and pamphlets from dating
agencies promising to find him or her a bride or groom. My wife received
such post card in March 2000, and I am just investigating the facts to
file a lawsuit against Noda City office in Chiba Prefecture and this
dating agency who are interfering in our privacy. I was surprised when my
son asked to me "Dad are you really married with Mom because someone sent
a letter to her to introduce a husband?"
The Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Home Affairs, which are concerned
with koseki and juminhyo, know these issues very well. But they continue
to resist adding foreign spouses onto the juminhyo because they do not
accept foreigners as a mother or father of their own Japanese children and
do not wish to give them proper legal status. This is a fundamental,
institutionalized form of discrimination against foreign people by
Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Home Affairs.
2. Immigration flexible and inflexible polices
Entertainers and Trainees
Have you ever seen some gangster-type person sitting in the immigration
office with a group of young Asian women lined up next to him and a bundle
of passports in his hand?
These are "entertainers" who have come with their "administrator" to get
visas extensions. High-ranking relations their bosses have with government
officials make it easy to get visas abroad and extensions in Japan. These
girls are then used to supply Japan's nightclubs and sex industry on a
massive scale, approaching the numbers of sex slaves used in World War II.
The numbers of foreign women who have been duped and are working
involuntarily in the Japan sex industry appear to be decreasing. However,
many are working on salaries so low that it would be illegal to pay
Japanese (e.g., Y50,000 to Y90,000/month), and many are often abused with
very little if any protection from unscrupulous managers. Immigration has
replaced the Japanese Imperial Army in the role of overseeing the
procurement of women for the thriving present day sex industry in Japan.
Responsibility for allowing it to happen must be theirs as they stamp the
passports submitted by the gangsters.
Another example is the large numbers of "trainees" from Asian countries
who are brought to Japan, often in government-sponsored programs, for
various forms of "training." However, in many cases the industries
associations that sponsor them end up giving them little training and
mostly 3K jobs (kitsui, kitanai, kiken, i.e., "hard," "dirty,"
"dangerous") at companies in their industry. Their training wages are only
Y60,000 to Y100,000 yen per month. The trainees feel compelled to do the
work in order to improve their financial situation and attempt to learn
some skills while in Japan.
Labor laws do not seem to apply to these trainees, and orders from
Japanese bosses must be obeyed at all times. Although the treatment of
these laborers is nowhere near as bad as the slave labor used during World
War II, it is ironic that once again the Japanese government is taking an
active role in procuring cheap disposable foreign labor under questionable
conditions for its industry.
False contracts are regularly submitted to immigration to get visas with
no verification because the industry officials have high-level connections
with the government. Such bureaucratic influence and corruption can be
traced back to donations to political parties and even straight bribes in
some cases.
Immigration and all concerned departments know very well about the
entertainer and trainee arrangements, but these are allowed to continue
smoothly due to financial incentives and the perception that the economy
needs this system. Although Japan revised its immigration laws last year
with heavier penalties for illegal workers, it is the government itself
that overseas much the illegal activities.
Fake marriages and trouble for legitimate marriages
International marriages have increased sharply during the last ten years
in Japan with the majority of this increase attributable to Asian women
marrying Japanese men. At the same time, the number of cases of fake
marriages (to both Japanese men and Japanese women) has increased sharply.
I recently interviewed a Filipino woman about this phenomenon. She told me
there are many "pros" who can find a Japanese national for a fake
marriage, and it is very easy if you have enough money. First you must pay
a "fake marriage fee," which is Y500,000 to Y700,000 and then you will be
obligated to pay Y30,000 to Y70,000 per month to that Japanese person who
will continue to provide marriage papers and other needed documents. None
of the money is refundable, and everything is on a cash-only basis.
Immigration knows about these fake marriages, but they do not want to
increase their workload to investigate them. Moreover, this stuff is small
potatoes if the information recently provided by a Japanese reporter is
true. According to this reporter, bribery and corruption are deeply
ingrained in the Justice Ministry with middlemen selling visas for
Y3,000,000 and Japanese citizenship for Y30,000,000. After receiving the
payments, a bureaucrat gets the nod, and the visa or citizenship is soon
approved.
3. Discrimination by immigration
People who are really married to Japanese are facing serious trouble to
get permanent residency or visa extensions. Last December I received a
call for help from an American lady to the UMJ Hot Line. She told me Tokyo
Immigration refused to accept her permanent residency application because
she does not have a child with her Japanese husband. She has been married
for 10 years, but due to some medical problems she was not able to have a
child. She wept on the phone as she pleaded that those ugly regulations be
changed.
In another case, an Asian man, who was married to a Japanese for over
twelve years with three Japanese children, called the UMJ head office for
help. He had applied for permanent residency twice because he needed that
visa status to get a loan approved. His Japanese son was suffering from a
serious ailment and needed an expensive operation. The man had hoped to be
able to borrow about Y2 million, which was the portion of the expenses not
covered by national insurance. But Tokyo Immigration refused his
application both times. He also wrote a letter to the Minister of Justice
with all medical certificates, etc., but nothing happened and his
application was refused twice.
I was very surprised when I heard that a foreign Ginza bar hostess
recently received a permanent resident visa after living in Japan only one
year. Even in the unclear regulatory environment of immigration such a
thing is nearly unheard of. She got the visa only because her customers
were top officials of the Ministry of Justice and high level politicians.
Tokyo Immigration subsequently confirmed that officials had been
disciplined for this improper granting of this visa.
4. Human rights abuses by immigration and police
A private security guard attested to the recent abuses by other guards and
immigration officials at Narita, and in December 1994 former immigration
guard Takeshi Akiyama publicly reported "frequent beatings" of detained
foreigners by immigration officers. Some of the more notable incidents are
as follows:
* On August 7, 2000 Amnesty International published a report about private
Japanese security companies using violence to extort money at Tokyo's
Narita airport in handling foreigners who were denied entry to Japan. (See
Tidbits of this issue.)
* Between May and June 1998, a 29-year-old Chinese woman being held in
police custody at Hakodate Nishi police station for a visa violation was
raped by a police sergeant on three separate occasions. He was not fired
until March 1999 after he had raped a 24-year-old Japanese woman held at
the station the month before.
* On August 9, 1997 Iranian national Mousavi Abarbe Kouh Mir Hossein was
beaten to death while in custody of the Kita Ward immigration detention
facility.
* In October 1994, Tao Yaping was beaten by seven immigration officers
while tied to a chair. Tao received Y1 million in damages, and the men
(i.e., confessed criminals) who beat her were given "administrative
warnings" only and kept their jobs!
* On June 20, 1994, Iranian national Arjang Mehrpooran was beaten to death
while in custody for a visa violation at the Minami Senju police station.
With consideration that the Hokkaido police sergant's criminal case may
still be pending, no Japanese officials who perpetrated the
above-mentioned crimes have received any criminal conviction.
In working on the UMJ legal counseling desk for non-Japanese with Japanese
spouses and permanent residents in Japan during the past four years,
complaints against immigration are at the top of the list. People do not
want to give their names out of fear of retribution from immigration. The
Public Safety Investigation Agency (PSIA) of the Justice Ministry can and
does launch investigations into organizations or persons who are working
for the community or his or her own human and legal rights. Therefore, an
atmosphere exists where people are afraid that asking about their legal
rights in Japan is a crime.
I have spent a major portion of my part of life in Japan, and love many
things about this country, including so many wonderful Japanese people I
know. My wife and children are Japanese. But I also want to educate the
Japanese government through the proper channels and in positive way to
understand the needs and rights of foreigners to make our lives better in
Japan. I am optimistic and sincerely pray for a bright future in an
atmosphere of international understanding with happiness and justice for
all people living in Japan.
