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OSAKA (Kyodo), Jan 16,- Following a
three-year court battle to invalidate a deportation
order, a 39-year-old Kurdish man from Iran has been
given a one-year stay permit, his lawyers said
Sunday.
Tibash Hossein, who arrived at Kansai International
Airport with a false passport on April 5, 2002, was
denied entry by immigration officials. He was
ordered deported three days later.
Hossein contested the deportation order and filed a
lawsuit in November 2002 with the Osaka District
Court, arguing the deportation order was a violation
of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition
Law.
He argued in court he would face political
persecution in Iran due to his membership in an
opposition group in the 1980s, although he admitted
he had left the group.
He also disputed the order's legality on the grounds
he was not provided an interpreter when immigration
officials at Kansai airport interviewed him about
why he used the fake passport.
He said that he told the immigration officials in
Persian that he was a political refugee, but the
message apparently did not get across.
The Immigration Bureau said in court that Hossein
should have communicated with the immigration
officials in Japanese because he had previously
lived in Japan for 6 1/2 years.
The Immigration Bureau also contested his claims
about fears of persecution.
Hossein applied for refugee status in May 2002, but
the application was turned down.
Last November, the Justice Ministry granted him
"special stay permit" status. A person with this
status is allowed to stay in Japan regardless of
whether he would be persecuted by a home-country
government.
"It is unclear why the ministry has given him the
stay permit," said a lawyer who has represented
Hossein.
Takeshi Ohashi, a lawyer familiar with Japan's
refugee recognition procedures, said it is rare for
the ministry to grant such a permit to a foreigner
who sought political refuge in Japan.
An immigration official in Tokyo said, "We still
believe that the decision to issue him the
deportation order was appropriate."
The official did not explain why the ministry has
granted him the special stay permit.
www.japantimes.co.jp
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