Officer-escorted deportations doubled year-on-year in the first three months of Japan’s Zero Illegal Foreign Residents Plan, the Immigration Services Agency said.

Between June and August, 119 individuals were forced out of Japan in this manner, compared with 58 in the corresponding period last year, the agency said Oct. 10.

Some of those deported were children who grew up in Japan. One parent was forced to leave his family behind in the country.

By nationality, Turks accounted for the most deportees, at 34, followed by 17 Sri Lankans, 14 Filipinos and 10 Chinese.

According to the agency’s stricter plan that started in late May, the government “aims for zero illegal foreign residents to realize an inclusive society where we can live together with foreign nationals in peace.”

Specifically, it set a goal of halving the number of “foreign nationals for whom deportation has been decided” by the end of 2030.

Japan previously suspended deportations for all applicants seeking refugee status recognition, including those appealing rejections of their requests.

However, an amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law, which took effect in June last year, said refugee status applicants can be deported if: (1) they are applying for the third or subsequent time without presenting “reasonable grounds” for recognition; and (2) they have been sentenced to at least three years of imprisonment without a stay of execution.

Thirty-six, or 30 percent of the 119 people deported in the three months, were applying for refugee recognition. Thirty-three of them fell in the first category and the other three in the second category.

One was a Middle Easterner who was applying for refugee status for the fifth time. Another was an East Asian who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on multiple charges, including robbery resulting in bodily injury, officials said.

The new deportation rules had been applied to only 25 individuals during a one-year period after the revised law came into force.

RECORD ENTRANT NUMBERS

In the first six months of this year, 19,728,400 people entered Japan, up an increase of more than 3 million from the half-year last year, the agency said. “Temporary visitors,” who include tourists, accounted for 98 percent of them.

The pace of new entrants is expected to lead to another record this year.

Around 71,200 foreign nationals remained in Japan beyond their authorized period of stay as of July 1, down about 3,600 from six months earlier.

By nationality, Vietnamese accounted for the most overstayers, at 13,100, followed by 10,900 Thais, 10,300 South Koreans and 6,300 Chinese.

Overall, overstayer numbers have dropped significantly from the peak of nearly 300,000 in the 1990s.

“Illegal foreign residents” is a broad concept that includes those who have smuggled themselves into Japan.

Support groups say the terms “illegal foreign residents” and “overstayers” are inappropriate because they include applicants for refugee status, who should be called “irregular migrants” or something else.

CHILDREN BORN, RAISED IN JAPAN

A number of ethnic Kurds in Japan with Turkish nationality have been deported since the zero plan started, including a father of a family in Saitama Prefecture in August.

The 41-year-old father, his wife and their three children arrived in Japan from Turkey in 2013.

The mother and the children gained residence status, but the father did not. He was applying for refugee recognition for the third time, saying he could face persecution in Turkey because he is a member of the Kurd minority.

The father was on “provisional release” from detention at an immigration control facility, and he had to appear at an immigration office every three months.

But he never returned home after reporting there in August. The family learned on the following day that he had been deported.

The mother and her children said they are now thinking about moving to Turkey.

Her youngest daughter, 7, however, was born in Japan, and her son, 15, and older daughter, 14, were both raised in Japan.

“I am worried if I could keep up with classes and make friends in Turkey,” the older daughter said.

A 17-year-old ethnic Kurd, who is a third-year senior high school student in Saitama Prefecture, said some family members of her friends and relatives have been deported. She said she fears it could be her family’s turn next.

Her family fled Turkey, where her father was politically active, and came to Japan when she was 5. Her family is applying for refugee status for the third time and could be deported at any moment.

She said she has few memories of her life in Turkey.

“How should I live in a country that I know little about?” she asked, adding that she wants to attend university and work in Japan.

CRITICISM BY RIGHTS GROUPS

A senior justice and immigration official said friction has arisen between ethnic Kurds and communities in Saitama Prefecture where they live in large numbers.

The official said the Immigration Services Agency hopes that promoting deportations will dispel the anxiety among the public.

However, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations criticized the zero plan in a president’s statement in May.

It said the plan most likely infringes on the human rights of foreign nationals who pose no threat whatsoever to the “safety and security” of Japanese citizens.

The group says the foreign nationals should instead be protected.

In addition, the zero plan “could lead to introducing a false perception that ‘the presence of irregular migrants causes the public safety to deteriorate’ and allowing it to take root in society,” the JFBA said.

The Japan Association for Refugees, a nonprofit organization, said in a written opinion in June that “the government has not been able to appropriately recognize those who should be recognized as refugees.”

It expressed concerns about “a further increase in deportations of refugees who need to be protected.”

Amnesty International Japan said in an open letter in July that the zero plan’s system is “premised on the elimination of foreign nationals and is likely to encourage discrimination.”

(This article was written by Yuki Nikaido, Tomonori Asada and Chika Yamamoto.)