Photo/Illutration A father of siblings who seeks residency status studied Japanese diligently by transcribing kanji characters into a notebook in 2016 before being deported. (Takuya Asakura)

In what it said was a “one-time” move, the government granted special residency to scores of foreign families with children who were born, raised and educated in Japan but had faced eventual deportation.

Japan is better known for its strict policies against those who overstay their visas and work illegally, often raising children who grow up speaking Japanese.

The measure announced earlier this month will do little to resolve an issue that involves untold numbers of foreign families as the Justice Ministry said it will set certain conditions.

A high school student in western Japan was ecstatic after receiving a LINE message from his mother, “We could get special permission (to stay in Japan.)”

His parents, who are from South Asia, have applied for refugee status.

About 200 students under 18 who were born in Japan and attend school, from elementary through high school level, were eligible for the special permission.

The youth was among them.

“I was glad,” he said. The first thing that came to mind was that he could finally work part-time and travel just like his Japanese friends.

Currently, he holds the status of “provisional release,” which is equivalent to permits given to those released temporarily from detention centers. That means he cannot work or leave the prefecture where he lives without the permission of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.

The boy enjoys a close friendship with his junior high school friends and high school club mates. Whenever they plan a trip, he joins in the planning but later cancels, saying, “Something has come up.”

He hasn’t told anyone about his situation. “I’m worried about what people will think of me. And I don’t want them to be concerned about me,” he said.

After he gains special permission to stay in Japan, “I want to work part-time and travel all over Japan.”

Of the roughly 200 children eligible for this measure, at least 70 percent will receive special permission to stay, according to the ministry. Children whose parents committed serious offenses that are difficult to overlook, such as illegal entry, will be excluded.

Siblings, who are both university students and currently hold the status of provisional release, are not eligible for this measure because they are both over the age of 18.

Even so, the older sister was happy for those who will benefit.

“I’m glad that some students were given (special permission to stay in Japan,)” she said. “For the past 10 years, we’ve been trying hard as a family, but nothing has moved forward. It’s only gotten worse.”

Their parents entered Japan illegally from South America about 30 years ago.

The family faced deportation in 2012 when the siblings were in elementary school. After the family lost their case in court, their father was held in a detention center.

The reason for this remains unclear, but it is not unusual in Japan for only the father, normally the breadwinner in a family, to be detained. Less than two weeks later, their father was deported.

The siblings, who hardly speak their parents’ native Spanish, said they cannot imagine living in South America.

They live with their mother, supported by a Catholic church, and can attend university thanks to community fundraising.

But unlike their friends, they “can’t even dream about the future.”

Although the sister is close to graduation and has begun job hunting, she lost hope, realizing “no company wants to hire someone with the status of provisional release.”

She said the internet is filled with heartless words toward “illegal stayers,” which frightens the siblings.

Still, she mustered up the courage to speak out at rallies in the Diet and other assemblies.

“Finally, this issue is now in the spotlight. It could change things,” she said.

Although the siblings are not satisfied with the cutoff at age 18, they found hope in the Justice Ministry’s rare move.

“If we get special permission to stay in Japan, I want to work part-time and help my mother first,” she said.

The ministry said it will assess each situation on a case-by-case basis for families not covered by this measure.

(This article was written by Takuya Asakura and Kazumichi Kubota.)

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