The Immigration Services Agency, under fire at home and overseas for its treatment of foreign detainees awaiting deportation, is moving to drastically slash the period such individuals are held.

The move follows intense international criticism and calls by lawyers in Japan over the years some detainees who overstay their visas are incarcerated.

The issue was brought to national attention by hunger strikes staged by detainees desperate to raise awareness of their plight.

One proposed change to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law would restrict to two or so the number of times a refugee application can be submitted by a single individual, meaning that applicants for refugee status will likely be deported quickly unless they have a legitimate reason.

Under current practice, there is no ceiling on applications nor reason given for seeking refugee status although each submission automatically stops the deportation process, leading in turn to long detentions.

Another measure would allow an authorized supervisory individual or organization to take overall responsibility so the would-be deportee can live outside of an immigration facility before deportation.

Hunger strikes at immigration facilities focused attention on the issue after a Nigerian detainee died during his hunger strike to protest his years-long incarceration at an immigration center.

From October 2019, a panel of experts reporting to the justice minister began discussions on legal revisions and submitted its proposals in June.

The Immigration Services Agency is using that proposal to write legislation to be submitted to the ordinary Diet session to be convened early next year.

Draft legislation is now being drawn up through discussions with lawmakers from the ruling coalition.

The proposal to limit the number of refugee applications stems from the fact that around 60 percent of detainees awaiting deportation have submitted such requests.

One proposed change would target those who have repeatedly applied to stay.

Under that system, the deportation process would go ahead if no change has occurred in the circumstances of the applicant that might warrant a different decision.

Another change would reduce the period an individual must wait before entering Japan again. Currently, even those who agree to quick deportation have to wait five years before being allowed to enter Japan again, but that would be shortened to a year.

Penalties will be established for those who obstruct their deportation by, for example, becoming violent on the aircraft taking them back to their country of origin.

The supervisory program would cover individuals without a criminal record and those who are not considered at risk of fleeing.

Such persons would be permitted to live away from immigration facilities but the supervisory person or organization, such as lawyers or acquaintances, would have to make periodic reports to the authorities about the individual's progress.

Penalties will be imposed on those who flee from such living conditions.

One possible option is that individuals placed on a supervisory watch could be deported without spending any time in an immigration facility. Currently, detention in principle starts from the time deliberations are held over whether to deport an individual until the person is put on a plane.

Another measure under consideration is to establish a new resident status that would allow individuals certified as being unable to return to their homeland due to strife to remain in Japan under the same long-term resident status given to refugees.

Lawyers for foreign nationals detained for long periods held a news conference in Tokyo on Nov. 5 at which two individuals explained the harsh circumstances they faced. The two talked via a smartphone from the immigration facility where they are being held.

Mundele Mayamba Florence, 50, of Congo is being kept in a Tokyo facility.

“I have not been feeling well for a long time,” she told her lawyer. “I have done nothing wrong. I am a human, not an animal.”

According to her lawyer, she fled her homeland, formerly known as Zaire, for fear of being persecuted during violence raging in Kinshasa, the capital.

The woman arrived in Japan in 2008 and was detained from February 2018 while in the process of having her third refugee application considered.

In April 2020, she refused to return to her cell in protest over her long incarceration. She said she was mistreated by a male guard, which triggered bouts of depression and an attempt to commit suicide by drinking detergent.

Another individual who spoke via smartphone was Majid Seyed Nejat, 53.

He arrived in Japan in 1991 on a short-term visa from Iran. He married and later divorced his Japanese wife. He has also served prison time for a number of crimes.

He has been detained in an immigration facility since February 2017 and staged hunger strikes in protest. He was temporarily released for short periods on three occasions between July and December 2019.

Since going on a hunger strike from October, his weight has plummeted by 20 kilograms to 55 kg. Although his health has deteriorated, he has not been allowed to temporarily leave the facility.

“Stop the long detentions,” he said. “Please give me a chance to live in Japan.”

Lawyers and support organizations view detention as a last resort and are calling for legal changes to limit the period of detention for those individuals who have no other alternative as well as to allow for judicial decisions on such detentions.

They also blamed the low rate of refugee approval in Japan as being another cause for the long delays and called for clearer provisions regarding approval of refugees.