Photo/Illutration Law scholars call for a draft revision of the immigration control law to be reconsidered at a news conference in Tokyo on May 11. (Mari Fujisaki)

A group of 124 people, including law scholars who specialize in international law, urged a bill to revise Japan's immigration control law to be scrapped or drastically altered, in a statement issued on May 11.

The group said the revision "will worsen the thoughtless immigration control system for human rights."

The bill to revise the law is under deliberations in the current Diet session.

The draft revision aims to review rules for detention and deportation of foreigners, but United Nations human rights specialists pointed out that it “did not reach the international standard on human rights.”

The group of law scholars and others fear the concerns voiced by the U.N. specialists will be ignored and the bill will be revised.

The bill would establish a new “monitoring measure,” which would allow detained foreign nationals to live outside detention facilities under certain conditions, and a “complementary protection” measure that would be equivalent to the protections provided to refugees.

And while the current law protects asylum seekers from deportation, the bill would introduce an exception that enables deportation of those who have applied for refugee status three times or more. Some experts point out that it will lead to more concerns over forced deportations.

At a news conference on May 11, group representative Yasuzo Kitamura, a professor at Chuo University, Chuo Law School, reiterated the need to have “constructive dialogues” with the international community.

“In Japan, only less than 1 percent can be granted refugee status (among all applicants)," he said. “It is necessary to discuss more how to grant refugee status and improve the operations.”

Related News