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The Tokyo District Court on Friday rejected appeals
filed by four Kurdish asylum-seekers from Turkey who
sought to reverse the government's decision not to
grant them refugee status.
Japan has not granted refugee status to any Turkish
Kurd asylum-seekers.
At a press conference held at the Foreign
Correspondents' Club of Japan, a representative for
the four, Takeshi Ohashi, said, "The ruling ignores
the situation Kurds face in Turkey, which has been
described in reports released by international
institutions, such as UNHCR, the U.S. State
Department and Amnesty International."
The four plan to appeal the decision.
One member of the group, Erdal Dogan, belongs to one
of two Turkish Kurd families who conducted a
two-month sit-in last year outside the U.N. building
in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo.
The Immigration Bureau reportedly has made an
increasing number of inquiries about asylum-seekers
with authorities in the asylum-seekers' home
countries, which immigration lawyers criticize as a
move that insures identities will inevitably be
leaked to those they seek to escape.
According to Ohashi, the Immigration Bureau made
inquiries via the Foreign Ministry in three cases in
2000, three in 2001, 17 in 2002 and 22 in 2003.
An immigration official said inquiries with local
governments and other sources are not made against
specific asylum-seekers.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp
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