Japan has a notoriously bad reputation when it comes to accepting refugees, and some politicians and NGOs believe things just got worse. Politics reporter Gabriele Ninivaggi joins the show to discuss what’s new in a controversial immigration reform law.

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Shaun McKenna  00:09  

Welcome to Deep Dive from The Japan Times, I'm Shaun McKenna. If you were watching the news two weeks ago, you might have been surprised to see a rather chaotic scene playing out in the halls of parliament.

So what was the cause of all that commotion? Well, it all had to do with a controversial bill to overhaul immigration rules that was sent to parliament and approved earlier this month. Reiwa Shinsengumi leader Taro Yamamoto thrust himself onto a crowd of lawmakers who had formed a kind of human wall around Hisatake Sugi, the chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, as a way to physically disrupt proceedings. If you were watching a video of the commotion on the news, then you may have noticed a young redheaded Italian among the swarm of Japanese politicians and journalists. That was our political reporter Gabriele Ninivaggi, and he's on the show today to explain what got Taro Yamamoto and some other opposition party members so worked up about immigration.

Gabriele Ninivaggi, thanks for coming back on Deep Dive.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  01:19  

Thank you, Shaun. 

Shaun McKenna  01:20  

Okay, we'll get to the meat and potatoes of this immigration reform bill in a moment. First, you were pretty close to the action in parliament. Do you want to tell us what exactly happened?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  01:30  

Sure. So I got to this Upper House committee room around maybe 10 minutes before we're supposed to be there, at 9:45. Because I wanted to take a look at what was going on in the committee's board meeting where the representatives of the ruling parties were talking over the agenda for the meeting. 

Shaun McKenna  01:44  

OK, and they were discussing this immigration reform law.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  01:49  

Exactly. Yes. That was the last meeting in that Upper House committee before the bill passed the plenary session. It was the following day, actually, but the place was already packed with journalists, cameras, bureaucrats and politicians, obviously. There had been reports that the ruling parties were going to steamroll the bill during that committee, that very day. So at some point after the board meeting, some opposition lawmakers who are obviously very aware of the presence of the cameras began shouting, “stop the stream roll,” and walked through this sort of throng of people to reach the main committee room.

Shaun McKenna  02:21  

“Stop the steamroll.” What is that in Japanese?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  02:24  

Kyōkō saiketsu wa yamete kudasai. 

Shaun McKenna  02:25 

Ah, it’s catchier in English I think.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  02:26

Yeah. So in the room, some of these lawmakers tried to stand up and express their opposition to the law and express their concerns, while some others kept heckling, you know, “Stop the steamroll! Stop the steamroll!” in the direction of the ruling party lawmakers and the situation got pretty tense after 20-30 minutes, and that's when Taro Yamamoto — who wasn't even a member of the committee — actually tried to jump on the crowd.

Shaun McKenna  02:54  

What was it like to suddenly be in the middle of all this? Was it exciting?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  02:58  

Overall, I think amused is probably the most appropriate word. Yeah, I understand the importance of taking time to debate and for the opposition to express their dissent towards a piece of legislation that they don't approve of. But considering that everybody already knew what was going to happen, it looked a bit melodramatic and kind of staged?

Shaun McKenna  03:18

Ah yeah, the theater of politics, right? 

Gabriele Ninivaggi  03:20

Yeah. So outside of the room. Some other lawmakers, even Lower House ones who are not supposed to be there, just began just sobbing in front of the cameras, and I also heard some strong language that I thought was a bit out of place.

Shaun McKenna  03:33  

What was the fallout? Was anyone injured? Was Yamamoto disciplined?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  03:36 

Yes. So, two people had minor injuries, and although actually members of both the ruling and opposition parties were in favor of punishing Yamamoto, this week, the assembly suspended any judgment on the matter. So, he likely will not receive any reprimands. I've talked to some of my senior colleagues about this. And they told me that this kind of mayhem is not really new. Actually, it used to be much worse in the past, and so Japanese media are sort of used to this. And so is the Japanese population at large, I would say, to some extent obviously.

Shaun McKenna  04:07  

Okay, well, I'm glad you weren't hurt. Politics is a rough business. So Gabriele, let's get to this immigration reform bill that sparked all that drama. It was passed by the Upper House, like you said, on June 9, and that was the day after that little scuffle. Who supported it and who was against it?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  04:25  

So the bill was originally submitted by the government, and obviously the ruling coalition, which is made up of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito supported, but during the debates in the Lower House, Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Democratic Party for the People, they cooperated with the government to just slightly amend the bill. Yes, and some other opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and the Japanese Communist Party together with Reiwa Shinsengumi, which is Taro Yamamoto’s party, opposed the bill in the Lower House and then in the Upper House too.

Shaun McKenna  04:57  

Right. What is in the bill that makes it so controversial.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  05:01  

So the bill is meant to address the inadequacies of Japan's asylum system. In fact, it's called an immigration reform bill, but it largely centers on refugees and asylum seekers. It tries to do so in three areas, mostly. The first one revolves around asylum requests and the deportation process. The second one is around detention conditions of asylum seekers. And then the last one concerns legal protection of refugee seekers who are escaping conflict.

Shaun McKenna  05:26  

Okay, so, No. 1, asylum requests and the deportation process. No. 2 detention conditions of asylum seekers. And the third is legal protection of refugee seekers escaping conflict.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  05:39  

Yeah, correct. The core concern, according to the opposition, is the first bit about asylum seekers and deportation practices.

Shaun McKenna  05:45  

Let's start with that, then, explain to us what's happening in a bit more detail.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  05:50  

Sure. So previously, if you're applying for refugee status in Japan, you could apply as many times as you wanted to, and the authorities could not deport you, when you were in the middle of an application process. So many people coming here seeking asylum would just get stuck in a cycle of continuously applying for refugee status.

Shaun McKenna  06:06  

Okay, so if they, I guess if this cycle continued indefinitely, then they could almost be living here in Japan.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  06:13  

Well, sort of, but with, obviously severe restrictions on what they could do. This kind of limbo wasn't really a winning situation for them. Nevertheless, according to the immigration agency in December of 2022, the number of asylum seekers who refuse to leave Japan, despite being told to do so, had jumped to 4,233, which was a 31% increase from the previous year.

Shaun McKenna  06:37  

Okay, so how then did the government or specifically this new law respond to the limbo situation?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  06:44  

So this revised law now sets a limit of two asylum requests.

Shaun McKenna  06:48  

Two, down from unlimited? So it's two strikes, and you're out? 

Gabriele Ninivaggi  06:52  

Yeah. So if both requests are rejected, the authorities can deport asylum seeker back to their home country. However, there is a possibility for a third request if the seeker has a reasonable cause. But yeah, under the new system, the authorities will be allowed to deport the asylum seeker during their third request.

Shaun McKenna  07:08  

So meaning they could be deported, succeed on their third request and then be brought back to Japan?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  07:14  

Potentially, yes, but the likelihood that a third request will pass the assessment is very slim. If they were to succeed, though, under the new law, they would be able to return to Japan in a shorter period of time than before.

Shaun McKenna  07:27  

Now, Japan is also infamously known for not accepting many refugees, is that right?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  07:33  

Yeah, correct. But it's a bit more complicated than that. So you hear a lot about how Japan accepts a few refugees. And strictly speaking, if you compare Japan to other G7 countries then that's true, because places like America or the UK accept thousands of people every year. In Japan, actually, in 2022, only 202 People were granted refugee status. And that's out of the 3772 applications that were made, which is around 5.4%. On the other hand, though, Japan allows people in on humanitarian grounds without calling them refugees, and it sticks to a very literal interpretation of the UN Refugee Convention that they’ve ratified. So that coming here, the number is higher. We're talking about over 1960 people, according to Justice Ministry data.

Shaun McKenna  08:21  

Have you ever been able to ask lawmakers what they think of this reputation Japan has, like how do they defend it?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  08:27  

Yes, I've spoken to ruling party lawmakers. And what they told me is that Japan is geographically and culturally very far from the countries where most asylum seekers come from, and that most people who are fleeing their homes tend to head to countries within the proximity of their own country. So they say that for this reason, Japan receives fewer requests from the countries that people are escaping, which is why overall numbers remain low compared to other G7 countries. But they settled so that if something happened to North Korea, for instance, then the situation would be very different. Yeah, however, some people just don't buy that line of reasoning, because for example, after the last coup d'etat in Myanmar, Japan didn't really change its stance, and numbers have stayed very low. And some other countries in the G7, like Canada and the US taking refugees from countries that are not necessarily close to them, either geographically or culturally.

Shaun McKenna  09:14  

Okay, so we got the ruling party side. What does the opposition think about these new asylum request rules?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  09:20  

So critics, not just the opposition, but aid groups and NGOs. They feel that this revision results in a greater chance that people seeking refuge will ultimately be returned to the countries they fled, where they can face persecution or even death sometimes. So Japan, as I said earlier, has ratified the U.N. Refugee Convention and the Convention Against Torture. And in April, United Nations human rights experts said, about a proposed bill that and I quote, “The legislative proposals lifting automatic suspension of deportation procedures for asylum seekers would undermine international human rights law and the principle of non refoulement” which means that it shouldn't return someone to where their life or freedom is threatened.

Shaun McKenna  10:08  

Gabriele, the second reform on that list we mentioned earlier in the show relates to the detention conditions of asylum seekers. Before we go over that, can you tell us who Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali was?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  10:22  

Yes. The Japanese press calls her Wishma-san, so I call her Wishma also. Wishma was a 33-year-old Sri Lankan national who died in custody while being detained at an immigration center in Nagoya. So Wishma-san came to Japan with the hopes of becoming an English teacher and she was attending a Japanese language school when she seemingly got involved with an abusive boyfriend. She stopped attending the school and was expelled actually at the end. And while she was trying to get away from her boyfriend, she appeared at a police station and since at that point, she had been overstaying her visa, she was sent to an immigration facility in Nagoya. That sounds like a nightmare. Yes. And unfortunately, things got worse, because it looks like Wishma-san wasn't going to win her case for asylum, and she fell sick, very sick. But at the same time, detention center authorities thought she was faking it and they didn't send her to a hospital. Now, she did see doctors at a center who recommended she be hospitalized, but reports say that immigration officials were worried that she would try to escape. She couldn't keep any food down, and she wasn't able to drink and unfortunately, she passed away on March 6, 2021.

Shaun McKenna  11:35  

Yeah, it was a really heartbreaking story. Here's Wishma’s sister speaking at a memorial service in Japan.

Clip  11:43  

I don't believe that my sister's soul is at peace. I ask you all to pray that she can rest in peace. I'd like to change the law, so that this kind of tragedy never happens again.

Shaun McKenna  11:56  

That was a clip from France 24 English. I think this story made more of an impression with the Japanese public than usual, as it was widely reported on.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  12:05  

Yeah, there was actually a video of her and attention being nonresponsive. And I think that definitely had an impact on whoever would have watched it.

Shaun McKenna  12:13  

How did the Wishma case actually impact the current reforms made by the government?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  12:19  

Well, so Japan tried to pass a similar version of this immigration reform in 2021. But because of Wishma’s case, they had to shelve it. Wishma’s family is actually in the process of suing the Japanese government for how it handled the whole case, and some members of the family came to Japan from Sri Lanka and were invited to watch the debates in the diet. They've been expressing their opposition to this new law, but that obviously didn't prevent the ruling parties from passing it. I actually had the opportunity to meet them and speak to them, and they were present at that Upper House drama that we spoke about earlier. 

Shaun McKenna 12:54

Oh, well, they were there. 

Gabriele Ninivaggi 12:56

Yeah, they were, and with regard to the second part of this law, the part on detention conditions, the law enables the temporary release of asylum seekers under the supervision of a caretaker — and we're talking about a friend, a family member or a lawyer — and seeks to provide authorities with greater flexibility in judging the need for detention. That includes the possibility of reviewing detention every three months, with the aim of reducing overcrowding at detention facilities. It also stipulates that inspectors in charge of assessing asylum requests need to undergo some proper training in order to deepen their understanding of human rights, international affairs and the objectives of international regulations concerning asylum seekers.

Shaun McKenna  13:42  

Interesting, because I have to admit, when I was listening to Wishma-san's story, it kind of felt like there was a lack of empathy on behalf of those in charge of her. That video that was released to the public, you know, the authorities appear to be just focused on making sure she didn't get one over on them.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  13:59  

Yeah, I think that quite a few people had that impression. This part of the immigration reform law also strengthens the role of medical professionals who conduct some regular checkups on detainees. And what you hear often from critics is that these facilities are a black box, in a sense that you don't really know what's going on behind those walls.

Shaun McKenna  14:23  

What do critics have to say about this section of the bill now?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  14:27  

So Well, during the period of debate over the law, some incidents came to light that made critics wary about how things operate at the detention centers. For example, at the Osaka branch of the immigration bureau, a doctor had been removed from duty over suspicions that she had assessed detainees while she was drunk. On top of that, there has been concern about bias in the assignment process of external advisors, which are the ones tasked with assessing asylum requests. So it was found that out of  111 of these inspectors, one of them, Fusako Yanase, had been in charge of a disproportionate amount of case reviews, and said she didn't believe a majority of the refugee claims. 

Shaun McKenna 15:10

We know her name. 

Gabriele Ninivaggi 15:12

Yeah, we do, because her comments were public. She said them in front of a Diet committee. But because of the number of rejections, critics worried she might be biased, but on the other hand, it is a subjective role. So, the opposition parties made the conclusion that the legislative foundation at the basis of the law is still shaky, as it doesn't include a way to hold these people in positions of power more accountable.

Shaun McKenna  15:46  

Okay, Gabriele, the third part of the bill seems to be a bit more positive in that it expands the definition of a refugee to include those who are trying to escape conflict. Can you tell us a little bit more about that part?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  15:58  

Sure. So this part mostly comes out of the war in Ukraine. So, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, the government made an emergency decision to accept Ukrainian asylum seekers, and, as of the start of June, 2,448 had entered Japan. But the thing is, they have been classified as evacuees and not as refugees, and they have been given a temporary resident status. So Japan defines refugees as those who face persecution for the race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, and people fleeing conflict — like the Ukrainians this time — are often not part of this group, and they're disqualified. So, Japan has created this quasi-refugee status in the evacuee.

Shaun McKenna  16:46  

Actually our former intern, Natalia Makohon talks about her experiences as an evacuee on this podcast back in February, we can link to that episode in the show notes.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  16:56  

Right. So, what the bill tries to do is to set up a more concrete system for these quasi refugees and give them a path to qualify for resident status to work and to receive national pensions and Japan. It also lets them apply for permanent residency a little more easily.

Shaun McKenna  17:13  

I'm guessing that not much of the criticism around this immigration reform bill is levied at that section, because that expands the definition of a refugee. But are there any other critiques that we haven't talked about yet?

Gabriele Ninivaggi  17:24  

Actually, yes, there is one that specifically refers to the children of those who have been applying for asylum. Some of those waiting to hear back on their claims, on the refugee claims, they have gone ahead with their lives in Japan and have had children here. And so at the moment, there are about 200 kids in this situation so they have only grown up in Japan. They speak Japanese and go to a Japanese school, and they don't know much about their parent’s home country. So if their parents are deported, then they face the prospect of having to return to a country that have never been to and not know much about, as I said.

Shaun McKenna  18:00  

I think this is a familiar situation in many countries, actually. Specifically, you hear about it a lot in the United States.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  18:07  

Yes, some of the arguments are the same here as they are in the States. Masahisa Miyazaki, who is an LDP,  Lower House lawmaker I talked to, told me that Japan cannot have a system in which asylum seekers who face the prospect of deportation are allowed to automatically obtain resident status if they have a kid in Japan. And he also added that in some cases, children have been granted special permission to stay in Japan, and that he doesn't think that those children are that unhappy. He says the situations are often multifaceted and more complex than what critics are pointing out. He also stressed that this new law will help address these shortcomings.

Shaun McKenna  18:49  

Okay, so, Gabriele, it seems like Japan's immigration system needed an overhaul, though it also seems like it might still be a work in progress? You know, I remember a news story from early in the year that said the number of foreign residents in Japan had risen to a record-high of over 3 million in 2022. That means Japan is slowly but surely becoming more internationally diverse. And this is also happening as Japan's population is getting older and shrinking.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  19:18  

Right. So on that idea of more foreign residents, I spoke to a CDP lawmaker, Lower House lawmaker, Ryuichi Yoneyama, and he said something very interesting about this. So he says that the ruling coalition is actually open to bring in more people into Japan, but that they aim for a process that doesn't cause any substantial disruption on the part of the Japanese population. So, that they impose a “When in Rome do as the Romans do” kind of thinking, meaning the onus is on foreigners to integrate smoothly and quickly. Yoneyama thinks that this is just not possible. Japan needs to sort of increase the foreign population, but it will likely cause inconveniences on both sides, and there is really nothing wrong about it. And also, there's not much you can do about it. So, he mentioned that Japanese people sometimes have a hard time themselves when they go abroad, so it's not like it's impossible to deal with other cultures in Japan. In that sense, laying the foundation of what inevitably needs to become a multicultural society means creating some room for these inconveniences, because not everything will go perfectly. And Japan needs to foster some awareness and tolerance mostly, and emphasize the good parts of social and cultural inclusivity. The process in and of itself will take obviously generations. So imagining integration will make everyone content quickly and in the same way, it's just unrealistic. So, according to the Yoneyama, this new asylum law will not really help in that direction, as practically it conceives foreigners as guests who need to adapt to Japanese society at all costs, without even guaranteeing them they will actually be integrated at some point.

Shaun McKenna  21:07  

Yeah, a little discomfort isn't always a bad thing. Gabriele, thanks for joining us again on Deep Dive.

Gabriele Ninivaggi  21:13  

Thanks for having me back, Shaun.

Shaun McKenna  21:14  

My thanks again to Gabrielea for coming on this week's show. We'll put links to his stories on immigration and refugees in the show notes. Elsewhere in the news, just before Japan's parliament, the Diet, wound up its plenary session for the summer, the country's age of consent was raised from 13 to 16 years old, as lawmakers passed key reforms to sex crime legislation last Friday. A new bill which also clarifies rate prosecution requirements and criminalizes voyeurism cleared parliament's Upper House in a unanimous vote. For some context, the age of consent is 16 in Britain, 15 in France and 14 in Germany and China. Now there are local ordinances across the country that effectively treat the age of consent as 18, but countrywide the age of consent in Japan had remained unchanged at 13 since 1907. Also worth noting under the new law, teen couples no more than five years apart in age will be exempt from prosecution if both partners are over 13. A small announcement to our listeners. Next week Deep Dive will be taking a week off. However, we will be back with new episodes in July. Deep Dive is produced by Dave Cortez. Our interns are Himari Shimanz and Christophe Loing. The closing theme is by Oscar Boyd and the theme music was written by Japanese musician LLLL. I'm Shaun McKenna. Thanks for listening and podtsukaresama.