A Cameroonian man cries out, “I’m dying” on the night before he died at Higashi-Nihon Immigration Center. (Video provided by lawyer Koichi Kodama)

Photo/Illutration The East Japan Immigration Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

MITO--A district court has ordered the government to compensate the family of a Cameroonian man who died in detention at the Higashi-Nihon Immigration Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The Mito District Court ruled on Sept. 16 that the government must pay about 1.65 million yen ($11,500) to the mother of the 43-year-old Cameroonian man who died on March 30, 2014.

The mother had sought 10 million yen from the central government and the official who was in charge of the immigration center at the time, on the grounds they did not provide adequate medical care to her son.

According to the lawsuit, the man arrived at Narita International Airport in October 2013, but was denied entry and detained at the Higashi-Nihon Immigration Center.

The man had diabetes and was examined by a doctor at the center and given medicine. In late March 2014, the man said his health had deteriorated to the point that he could not even stand up, but nothing was done. His death was confirmed on the morning of March 30, 2014.

The plaintiff argued that the man could have been saved if staff had reported the matter to a doctor the previous night so the man could be taken to a hospital by ambulance. Government officials said the proper procedure was followed.

Since 2007, 17 foreigners detained at immigration centers around Japan have died from illness or killed themselves.

That includes the high-profile case of Wishma Sandamali, 33, who died in March 2021 while at a facility run by the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau.

The lawyers said the Cameroonian man was the first to receive a ruling in a lawsuit against the central government among the 17 foreigners who died while in detention.

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