A Myanmarese man, detained for illegal entry and separated from his wife and young children, was temporarily released Thursday from a Tokyo immigration center and reunited with his family, his supporters said.
Maung, 39, was taken into custody in November and his wife, Sung, 25, was detained in December. As they had no relatives in Japan, authorities put their 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son in a children's facility.
Sung was released on bail Dec. 21.
The couple, who married in Japan, filed a lawsuit in December seeking a cancellation of the Justice Ministry's detention order, arguing it was inhumane to separate them from their children.
According to the couple's petition, they belong to an ethnic minority in Myanmar and took part in antigovernment activities there. They said they fled to Japan in 1999 to escape persecution, entering the country on fake passports.