Photo/Illutration Justice Minister Ken Saito, center, waits for a meeting of the Lower House Committee on Judicial Affairs to start on April 26. (Koichi Ueda)

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan plans to vote against the ruling coalition’s bill that would speed up deportations of foreigners who are illegally staying in Japan.

An official decision by the CDP was expected on April 27.

The coalition agreed to change the bill to say the government will consider the CDP’s demand to set up a third-party organization to screen foreign nationals’ applications for refugee status.

But many CDP members remained against the bill to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law.

Currently, Japan does not carry out deportation orders against foreign nationals if they have applied for refugee status. The government says many people are abusing this system by repeatedly applying for asylum just to stay in the country.

The bill would allow the authorities to deport them after two rejected applications.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, have been in talks on the legislation with the CDP and another opposition party, Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party).

The ruling coalition on April 25 presented the revised proposal that included an additional clause stating that a third-party organization will be considered to screen refugee status applications.

One CDP member said the new proposal “reflected our wishes more than expected.”

But the foundation of the initial government bill remained unchanged.

CDP members discussed the proposed revision at an April 26 meeting of the party’s legal department.

“There is no guarantee that the third-party organization will actually be established,” one member said.

Another member said that accepting the government proposal “would be a betrayal of party supporters who helped to come up with our counterproposal.”

The party members left the final decision on the bill to Akira Nagatsuma, chairman of the CDP’s Policy Research Committee. He also expressed a negative view of the revised proposal.

The ruling coalition initially intended to hold a vote on the bill at the Lower House Committee on Judicial Affairs on April 26, but the vote was postponed until April 28 at the earliest.

The coalition now plans to present the bill without the CDP’s proposed changes, such as the inclusion of a stipulation that says “children’s interests” shall be taken into consideration when determining whether to give “special permission to stay in Japan.”

This proposal was made to protect children of foreign nationals who do not have residence status in Japan.

The CDP’s opposition to the bill will likely not be enough to block its passage in the Diet.

The coalition plans to make slight changes to the bill to reflect the demands of Nippon Ishin. They include enhancing information-gathering in countries where applicants for refugee status are from.

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