SHITARA, Aichi Prefecture--A Nigerian man was granted a provisional release from a detention center more than a decade ago, but life remains a struggle for him and his Japanese wife.

While awaiting a decision on his application for special permission to stay in Japan, Sunday Ifeanyi Innocent, 51, has no residency status and is banned from working and joining the national health insurance program.

His wife, Hiromi Goto, 58, is the lone breadwinner, but the income from her part-time job runs out quickly, and the couple live in constant fear of falling into poverty or being split up because of a deportation order.

“I just want us to be able to support each other as a family,” she said. “It is distressing when such an ordinary thing is not accepted.”

Goto helped to set up a group called Sakuranbo no Kai (association of cherries) in August to push the government to improve conditions for foreign nationals on provisional release.

The group has eight members, who use the Line messaging app to exchange tips on living and share news reports on immigration issues.

According to the Immigration Services Agency, 2,303 foreign nationals were on provisional release as of the end of June 2019, and 6.5 percent of them had been living in Japan for at least 10 years.

The ratio has increased every year from 0.6 percent at the end of 2014.

Those detained at immigration facilities for illegally staying in Japan may be granted provisional release for humanitarian and other reasons.

Certain conditions and restrictions apply. A guarantor and guarantee deposit are required.

In principle, those on provisional release are not allowed to work or join the national health insurance program. They are also required to report to immigration authorities every month and obtain permission whenever they leave the prefectures where they live.

An Immigration Services Agency official said it is difficult for the government to change the policy for those on provisional release.

“In principle, they must leave Japan immediately when they receive a deportation order,” the official said. “While on provisional release, they are expected to pay for their expenses with their own assets or support from their families.”

According to Sunday, he feared for his safety following a riot in Nigeria and fled to Japan around 2001.

He was served a deportation order in August 2011 after being found illegally residing in the country and immediately taken into custody at an immigration center.

He was granted provisional release in March the following year.

Sunday is seeking special permission to stay in Japan after his first request was rejected. He was twice denied refugee status, in 2011 and 2015.

Sunday and Goto were married five years ago.

Goto has a 20-year-old son from a previous marriage who attends a vocational school outside the prefecture. She sends money to him.

Sunday could not help the son relocate to enroll at the school because the provisional release rules prohibit him from traveling outside Aichi Prefecture, in principle.

Lacking health insurance has been a big problem.

A lawn mower accident a few years ago created a wound so serious that a pharmacy employee told Sunday to get stitched up at a hospital.

But he could not afford to see a doctor.

Sunday cleans around the house, does the laundry and performs other chores during daytime hours.

He also grows vegetables in a field in front of their house and sometimes helps his neighbors with snow removal or farming chores.

When Goto comes home after her work, which starts early in the morning and involves a lot of standing, Sunday serves her a cup of coffee and encourages her to take a rest.

Goto said spending time with Sunday is “irreplaceable.”

“I just want (the government) to guarantee the right to live together,” Goto said.

In March last year, Goto met Akemi Mano, 69, a resident of Tsushima, Aichi Prefecture, who has provided support for foreign nationals on provisional release.

Through Mano, Goto made acquaintances with other women whose husbands are on provisional release, and they established Sakuranbo no Kai.

“I want to work with other members to call for granting special permission to stay in Japan and other measures (for our husbands),” said a 49-year-old woman whose Iranian husband of 24 years is on provisional release.

Goto said she feels reassured when she connects with others who face the same circumstances.

“I also hope people learn about families like us,” she said.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the difficulties of those on provisional release.

Nonprofit organization Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (Ijuren) and two other private support groups said they provided a total of 173.24 million yen ($1.3 million) in aid to 10,167 non-Japanese people between April 2020 and September 2022 for their rent, living expenses, medical bills and other costs.

The groups said they are receiving a growing number of emergency requests from foreign nationals on provisional release.

One reason is that an increasing number of them were given releases to help prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading inside detention facilities.

Another reason is that other support groups were forced to suspend their activities due to the pandemic.

In November, the three groups asked the government to grant residency status to foreign nationals on provisional release and guarantee their access to employment and medical care.

“The current system has fallen apart as it fails to guarantee basic human rights,” said Motoko Yamagishi, director-general of Ijuren.