Photo/Illutration Deniz says he goes to a clinic more than once a month because he has become mentally unstable due to his long detainment on Jan. 5 in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward. (Yuri Murakami)

Two foreigners who were detained for long stretches after applying for refugee status in Japan will file a human rights lawsuit against the central government seeking damages of about 30 million yen ($259,300).

The plaintiffs are Heydar Safari Diman, 53, an Iranian national, and Deniz, 42, a Turkish national, who asked that only his first name be used. 

According to the lawsuit, Heydar came to Japan in 1991 after fleeing from his home country. Deniz did the same in 2007.

Both applied for refugee status but their applications were denied.

Both were designated for deportation, and have been detained off and on and received provisional release status repeatedly for more than 10 years.

The period of detainment was a total of about four to five years.

Their mental conditions deteriorated due to stress, according to the court claim.

They suffered emotional trauma because they were detained without being told how long their terms of confinement would be.

“It is clear that (their detainment) lacked rationality and necessity,” the court claim said.

After their cases were reported to it, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention under the U.N. Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in 2020 pointed out that the fact that they were detained again after being released provisionally was “unnecessary and arbitrary.”

Citing a lack of judicial review on the time limit of detainment and a decision on the detainment, the working group sent an opinion brief to the Japanese government, urging Japan to review the Immigration Control Law and pay compensation to the two men.

The opinion brief does not have legal binding force.

It was the first time for the working group to conclude that the Japanese practice of immigration detainment violates the International Covenants on Human Rights.

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan in 2021 released its opinion on the matter and said that the detainments of the two were appropriate and the decisions were made based on individual circumstances and their actions, such as compliance with the conditions of their provisional release.

The agency also stated that opportunities for judicial review and relief were provided to them.

The opinion brief from the working group “did not understand the Japanese immigration system correctly,” the agency said.

“It was clearly based on factual errors and causes misunderstanding both in and outside of Japan,” the agency said and disclosed that it had registered a protest against the working group.

Deniz, who is currently on provisional release, said, “I fled to Japan to live, but when I was detained I felt that I wanted to die. It does not make sense that Japan does not abide by the U.N. rules.”

Heydar said, “I want the immigration agency to start treating foreigners the same as human beings.”

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