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Japan has long caught
flak for being closed to asylum-seekers, and the
deportation this week of two Kurds from Turkey --
despite their U.N. recognition as "mandate refugees"
-- has brought the government under a fresh attack.
Ahmet Kazankiran and his son, Ramazan, were deported
to Turkey on Tuesday, one day after they were
detained when they reported to the immigration
office to have their provisional release renewed.
Their current situation in Turkey has yet to be
confirmed.
The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees has described the deportation as "contrary
to Japan's obligations under international law" and
said it contradicts the humanitarian aid Japan
extends to refugees and disaster survivors abroad.
There are no official figures available yet for the
number of people who were granted official refugee
status in Japan in 2004, but sources say it was only
16. In 2003, just 26 people were either given
refugee status or special residence permits.
No Kurds from Turkey have been given refugee status
by the government.
"We have reached a point where we cannot expect the
Justice Ministry to take appropriate measures to
protect asylum-seekers," said Takeshi Ohashi, one of
the lawyers representing the Kazankiran family.
"This is an embarrassing incident, internationally
speaking. The Justice Ministry not only ignored the
U.N., but challenged and insulted it. This action
will no doubt stain Japan's position in the
international community."
On Thursday, the Social Democratic Party said that
by deporting the two Kurds, "Japan has neglected its
duties to cooperate with the UNHCR" as a signatory
country of the U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees.
The Justice Ministry argues that the UNHCR's
conditions for mandate refugee designation is
broader than those in the U.N. convention, which
defines refugees as those with "well-founded fear of
being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group
or political opinion."
According to an Immigration Bureau official, the
UNHCR's mandate refugee designation is given to
people who may not be defined as refugees but are in
need of humanitarian support.
The UNHCR admits it tries to help "persons of
concern to UNHCR," who have fled "situations of
civil or international wars, situations of massive
violations of human rights, as well as stateless
persons."
But there is basically no difference between the
UNHCR and U.N. convention in their definitions of a
refugee, UNHCR senior legal officer Nathalie
Karsenty said.
"It is not the question of definition, but how
(refugees) are dealt with," she said. "Indeed, we do
have a more liberal approach, and what we're calling
for is truly humanitarian spirit based on human
rights, not immigration concerns."
Karsenty pointed out that Japan also has a similar
system of giving special residence permits on
humanitarian grounds to those who may not exactly
meet the requirements to be called a refugee under
the U.N. convention.
"There are ways to provide protection to everybody
in need of international protection, be it the
convention or other forms of protection," she said.
According to Karsenty, there are currently 25 cases
of asylum-seekers with UNHCR mandate refugee status
who have not been recognized as refugees by the
Japanese government. The cases include the
Kazankiran family.
The remaining five member of Kazankiran's family are
required to appear before the Immigration Bureau on
Monday. Orders for their deportation have also been
issued.
Erdal Dogan, another Kurdish asylum-seeker who
staged a protest sit-in in front of United Nations
University in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward last summer with
the Kazankirans, is due to renew his provisional
release Friday, and the rest of his family on Feb.
10.
Deportation orders for them have also been issued.
"I'm afraid that we will all be deported just like
Ahmet and Ramazan," Dogan said. "All of our lives
depend on this."
After deporting Kazankiran and his son, a senior
Justice Ministry official claimed Japan made the
decision to send them back after determining the two
did not face persecution in Turkey -- as had been
claimed by the family and their supporters.
But the Kazankirans and Dogans have argued that the
risk of persecution increased after Japanese
officials visited Turkey and cooperated with Turkish
authorities to "examine" whether their refugee plea
was valid.
Kazankiran's family in Tokyo received a call
Wednesday from him, saying he and his son would soon
be released after being detained by Turkish
authorities upon arrival at Istanbul airport. But
the family said they have since not heard from him.
Fumio Azuma, a supporter of the Kazankirans and the
Dogans, told reporters that he had been naive to
think the Justice Ministry would grant the
Kazankirans refugee status based on the UNHCR
designation.
"The least they could have done is to have sent them
to a third country," Azuma said. "Is that so
difficult?"
But the ministry didn't yield.
"How can we send them to a third country when the
Justice Ministry and the courts judged that (the
Kazankirans) were not refugees?" a ministry official
asked.
The Japan Times (C) All rights reserved
http://www.japantimes.co.jp
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