RIGHTS: Japan Shows Little Change in Attitude on Asylum Seekers

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Dec 9 2001 (IPS) - The Japanese government’s recent rejection of the asylum applications of nine Afghan men underscores how Tokyo’s attitude toward foreign refugee applicants has changed little over the years.

Indeed, if 24-year-old Moammad Yahya, one of the asylum seekers from the minority Hazara group, thought there would be more sympathy toward their plight given the war in Afghanistan, he was wrong.

Japan’s statistics on its refugee processing say a lot, say activists who urge Tokyo to be more thorough in processing such applications under its commitments under international law.

Last year, Tokyo granted permission to reside in the country to only 22 foreign nationals who had fled political or human rights violations in their home countries. In the previous year, the figure stood at 18.

Likewise, only one of 100 Afghan asylum seekers’ applications has been recognised this year, according to lawyers for these asylum seekers.

“I have no place to go as I have fled from persecution in my home country. I really want the bureau to grant us refugee status,” Moammad Yahya said.

The nine asylum seekers, detained since October and ranging from their teens to more than 40 years old, said they came to Tokyo after fleeing persecution of minority groups by the then ruling Taliban government.

Most of them belong to the Hazara ethnic minority, who say they have been discriminated against by the Pashtun-led Taliban, which in mid-November began retreating from key Afghan cities and last week gave up their last major stronghold in Afghanistan.

They said they paid brokers to bring them to Japan and arrived by boat and plane, with some carrying false passports.

In the last week of November, the Justice Ministry explained in a statement the applicants were rejected because “there is no specific proof of their statement there is a fear of persecution for reasons of race and religion”.

“It is the government’s duty to make sure why these people want refugee status,” says Masayoshi Kajima, an official at the refugee section at the Ministry of Justice.

The refugees had been detained since Oct. 3 for entering Japan illegally between June and August, despite having applied for refugee status in August this year.

But activists point out it took only three months for the government to reject the applications, too short a period to confirm charges of persecution from the asylum seekers.

“There is obviously some connection with the Japanese government decision and the (Sep. 11) terrorist bombing in New York,” says Kanae Doi, a lawyer representing the Afghan asylum seekers.

She says the men were interrogated for hours on possible connections with the Taliban, a clear case of cooperation between the Japanese and the U. S. government.

Kensuke Ohnuki, head of the 25-member legal team representing the refugees, said the decision to detain the Afghans was in the first place a “clear violation” of the Refugee Convention and against the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees’ guidelines that call for the protection of the human rights of those fleeing persecution.

Japan signed the United Nations Refugee Convention in 1956, but domestic laws allow the government to detain applicants and draw up its own criteria in the refugee recognition procedure. Activists say these laws provide loopholes for the government to reject applicants without allowing them the benefit of the doubt.

The government demands such documents as passports or resident papers which, according to lawyers, virtually leave the refugees helpless to attain status. “Asking for documents from a person who at most times is fleeing death or has had his home robbed or burned, is an impossible condition when applying for refugee status,” says Ohnuki.

The rejection of the Afghans’ applications also illustrates huge difficulties faced by foreigners seeking refuge in Japan.

Activists say that Japan’s official cold policy toward refugees reflects its xenophobic approach to foreigners. “The door is firmly closed for refugees. Japan does not respect the human rights of these people,” says Ohnuki.

Take the case of Cho Aun Win, a Burmese journalist who says he applied for refugee status almost three years ago and is still waiting for the result of this process. In contrast, he says, his wife Win was granted refugee status in the United States in just six months.

But even then, some say getting permission to stay on as refugees is just the first step in the tough process of adjustment to a new country like Japan.

Forty-seven year-old Tin Win Akbar, a Burmese who was granted asylum after a wait of two and a half years, says life is difficult in Japan. “Finding work and economic security is the hardest aspect for a refugee who is eager to get on with his life,” he says, pointing out the Japanese government does not help refugees in that aspect.