A civic group submitted a petition Monday to the Justice Ministry, asking it to cancel the deportation of a Chinese ex-convict, the son of a war-displaced Japanese woman, so he can remain in Japan with his family.

Authorities earlier ordered the deportation of the 51-year-old Chinese man, who came to Japan 14 years ago, after he completed a four-year prison sentence for helping smuggle illegal immigrants into the country.

Freed from prison in June, the man was subsequently placed in an immigration detention facility in Tokyo under immigration law, awaiting deportation.

The Tokyo-based group, Chugoku Kikokusha-no-kai, which supports Japanese left behind in China at the end of the war, said the man has no relatives in China.

His mother returned to Japan, and his Chinese wife, three children and four grandchildren all live together in Japan, it said, without identifying any of the family by name.

Along with the petition, the group submitted to the ministry 3,000 signatures of the offspring and grandchildren of war-displaced Japanese who now live in Japan, asking it to allow the man to remain in the country with his family.

The group said authorities should take into account historical circumstances pertaining to his case, as well as legal precedents.

"Korean residents in Japan are deported when they receive a prison sentence of more than seven years," a senior group member said. "It is strange that different measures are taken for the children of returnees from China, who are beset with problems that stem from similar historical situations."