Japan is making asylum even harder for refugees

ELIZABETH obueza’s life has been in limbo since 1991, when she fled Nigeria, in fear of genital mutilation. She came to Japan, one of the few countries willing to issue her a short-term tourist visa. Her refugee application was rejected, but, by reapplying, she managed to stay. Lacking permission to work, she relies on food handouts. In 2011 and 2016, the authorities abruptly caught and detained her for nearly two years in total, including seven months of solitary confinement.

Ms Obueza’s plight is all too common. Less than 1% of applicants are granted asylum—last year just 202 people, a miserable figure but still the highest to date. (In 2021 Germany accepted 39,000 refugees, the highest in the G7, followed by Canada with 34,000.) Applicants wait for years (on average four, sometimes ten) while their applications are reviewed, with few rights and often at risk of detention. At the end of 2021, 13,000 foreigners in Japan were applying for refugee status. Things are about to get even grimmer for them. The Japanese parliament this month passed a bill changing the law so that asylum-seekers who have already applied three times can be deported.

Japan’s ageing society depends ever more on foreigners; the number of migrant workers has nearly tripled over the past decade, reaching 1.8m in 2022. Yet the government has kept its hardline approach to refugees, arguing that too many fake refugees are abusing the system to enter the country. In reality, says Ibusuki Shoichi, a human-rights lawyer, by ramping up deportations, the Japanese government is “pressing the execution button” for those in need of protection. Its attempt to pass the same bill two years ago was blocked amid public outcry, when Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan woman, died in custody after being denied medical treatment. She was the 17th person to die in detention since 2007. Hunger strikes have become common in detention centres.

Japan’s refugee policy had briefly seemed to be easing. After Russia’s invasion, Japan accepted more than 2,300 Ukrainians. But at the same time the government made its interpretation of the un refugee convention more restrictive, to exclude those fleeing conflicts. Ukrainians, as “quasi-refugees” or temporary “evacuees”, got one-year residents’ permits. Nor did other nationalities receive similar hospitality. Yucel Mehmet, a Kurdish man who lives near Tokyo, is glad Ukrainians are welcome, “but I can’t help wishing they accepted even just ten Kurdish refugees.” Of some 2,000 Kurds living in Japan, only one has won refugee status.

The un has urged Japan to take more refugees. The topic has never been a big issue in Japan, but the bill has ignited an “unprecedented” backlash, says Ishikawa Taiga, an opposition legislator. On June 8th, as it was passed, protesters gathered outside parliament and lawmakers scuffled inside. Activists hope to abolish the bill before it takes effect in May next year. “For 33 years I’ve been living here in peace,” says Ms Obueza. “I’m pleading to the government: give us a chance to stay.” ■

Correction (July 1st): This story has been updated to clarify why Ms Obueza fled Nigeria.