Statement on the Results of the Implementation of the Government’s Policy on Granting Special Residence Permits to Children of Deportation Evaders Born and Raised in Japan
On September 27, 2024, the Immigration Services Agency released the results of the implementation of the government’s policy issued on August 4, 2023, regarding granting special residence permits to children of deportation evaders who were born and raised in Japan (the "Policy").
The Policy states that such children and their families are, in principle, to be granted a special residence permit to stay in Japan as a whole family unit, provided certain conditions are met by June 24, 2024, the effective date of the 2023 amendment of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act. These conditions include: (a) the child was born in Japan; (b) the child is receiving education at an elementary school, junior high school, or high school in Japan; and (c) the child truly wishes to continue to stay in Japan. According to the released information, of 201 children of deportation evaders born in Japan without legal residence status who had been issued written deportation orders as of December 31, 2022, legal resident status was granted to 171 of them.
However, several issues, including those highlighted by the Japan Federation of Bar Association (the "JFBA") in the Statement Concerning the Government’s Policy on Granting Special Residence Permits to Children of Deportation Evaders Born and Raised in Japan dated September 4, 2023, have become a reality as follows.
First, limiting the scope of the Policy to children born in Japan led to the exclusion of 94 children of deportation evaders who were born outside the country, as well as those born in Japan but who have now become adults. The Policy should also apply to those 94 children, regardless of their place of birth, as they are growing up and living in Japan, similar to the children who have been granted special residence permits under the Policy. Furthermore, those who are 18 years old or older should be granted the right to live in Japan, their country of origin, from the perspective of protecting the environment in which they have grown up and lived, as well as the process through which their personality has been developed (as per General Comment No. 27 on Article 12, paragraph 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) issued by the United Nations Human Rights Committee.)
Second, limiting the scope of the Policy to those who are receiving education at an elementary school, junior high school, or high school in Japan led to the exclusion of 11 children of deportation evaders who have not reached school age. However, those 11 children were born in Japan and are living in the country. The fact that they have not reached school age does not diminish the importance of ensuring a stable life for them. Their residence status should be determined from the perspective of protecting the best interests of the child in line with Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Third, the in-principal exclusion of those who were born in Japan whose "parents faced negative circumstances that cannot be overlooked" from the Policy’s scope has resulted in as many as 10 children of deportation evaders being denied residence permits, primarily due to their parents’ circumstances. However, deciding the child’s residence status based on their parents’ circumstances constitutes a form of discrimination prohibited under Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and undermines the recognition of the child as an individual with their own personality. The child’s residence status, even "if there are negative circumstances faced by their parents that cannot be overlooked," should not be denied on that ground and should instead be determined based on the child’s best interests. If the child is granted a residence permit, the propriety of only deporting the parents with such circumstances should be decided cautiously, adhering to the principle of proportionality. This requires assessing whether the negative circumstances faced by a particular parent are sufficient to justify the deportation of the parent, thereby restricting the right of family unity (Articles 17 and 23 of the ICCPR).
Finally, limiting the scope of the Policy to those who had been issued a written deportation order as of December 31, 2022, resulted in the exclusion of children of deportation evaders who were on provisional release at that time. There are no reasonable grounds to leave those children out of the Policy’s scope.
The JFBA repeats its call for expanding the scope of the Policy to ensure that the child’s own rights are protected without being affected by matters over which the child has no control, such as their place of birth, age, or any circumstances faced by their parents. In addition, considering that the protection of the child’s right to nondiscrimination, their best interests, and the right of family unity are guaranteed under international conventions, we call for taking this as an opportunity to review this non-transparent system for granting special residence permits, and realizing a special residence permission system that is in line with international human rights law.
November 18, 2024
Reiko Fuchigami
President of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations