Refugee | In Japan, a controversial reform of the immigration law was approved

in Japan Parliament approved a controversial reform of the country’s immigration and refugee laws on Friday.

The reform enables people who have applied for asylum three times to be deported from the country despite the ongoing application process.

News agencies reported on it, among others Kyodo News and AFP and a Japanese newspaper The Japan Times.

Over here until now, the legislation has not allowed deportation if the application process is ongoing, regardless of the number of applications.

The Japanese administration sees that asylum applications are therefore made unfounded.

“There are many who abuse the application system to avoid deportation,” Japan’s justice minister Ken Saito said according to AFP.

Reformation opponents have pointed out that some asylum seekers have been approved on their third or subsequent application.

The law was passed by the ruling party coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party LDP and Kōmeitō with the support of conservative opposition members.

The opposition parties, the constitutional democratic party CDP and the communist party opposed the reform. According to them, it does not protect the rights of asylum seekers and does not improve the current immigration facilities.

The opposition also sees that the ruling parties rammed through the reform by force.

According to AFP, the law has also been criticized by, for example, the Japanese Bar Association. The union stated that it is unsustainable to deport people to countries where their safety and freedom are threatened.

from Japan According to AFP, about 12,500 people applied for asylum last year, of which 202 applicants received it. In addition, through a separate process, Japan allowed 1,760 foreigners to remain in the country for “humanitarian reasons.”

In 2021, Japan accepted of The Diplomat magazine according to about 0.7 percent of asylum applications. The corresponding figure in Germany is 25 percent and in the United States 32 percent.

According to opponents of the reform, the asylum system does not work in Japan. According to the lawyer interviewed by AFP, the authorities make rejection decisions quickly, sometimes without meeting the applicant.