Photo/Illutration Saitama Governor Motohiro Ono speaks before Diet members elected from the prefecture during a meeting in Tokyo on July 28. (Masahide Miyajima)

The governor of Saitama Prefecture requested a temporary suspension of the mutual visa waiver agreement between Japan and Turkey, indicating that crimes by Turkish nationals are causing anxiety among local residents.

Governor Motohiro Ono made the request on July 28 at a meeting with Diet members representing the prefecture designed to convey the prefecture’s national policy requests to the Diet.

The visa waiver agreement allows Turkish and Japanese nationals to make short-term visits to each other’s countries for tourism and other purposes without a visa.

“Some foreign nationals enter Japan under the visa waiver agreement and continue to stay by repeatedly applying for refugee status without valid grounds for being recognized,” Ono said.

He said there have been cases in which such individuals commit crimes, spreading concern among residents. 

The prefecture called on the Diet members to “carefully reconsider (the agreement) in light of the current situation and suspend it temporarily, if necessary.”

In Saitama Prefecture, Kurds with a Turkish nationality, many of whom are seeking refugee status, have formed large communities in and around the cities of Kawaguchi and Warabi.  

According to the prefectural government, 31.1 percent of Turkish nationals residing in Japan live in Saitama Prefecture.

In 2024, Turkish citizens made up the largest group, by nationality, of repeat applicants for refugee status, individuals denied refugee status and those provisionally released from detention at an immigration facility.

After the meeting, Ono said, “It’s a fact that (some) Turkish nationals have repeatedly applied for refugee status and that (Turkish) people who cannot accept the situation are raising public concern.”

(This article was written by Masahide Miyajima and Shun Nakamura.)

Related News