Japan Detains Kurdish Asylum-Seeker

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at locust.etext.org>

Japan Detains Kurdish Asylum-Seeker

By Sumire Kunieda
The Daily Mainichi - July 19, 1997

     In an unprecedented move by immigration authorities, a
Kurdish man seeking political refugee status was taken into
police custody last week for not having a visa, a group of
lawyers said Friday.
     It was the first time the Justice Ministry has ordered the
detainment of a foreigner applying for refugee status. Until now,
the applicants have been detained only after their applications
have been rejected, the lawyers said.
     The Kurdish man, a Turkish national in his late 20s, was
arrested July 9 at his home in Saitama Prefecture, according to
lawyers representing him. He was put in a detention center in
Tokyo under the control of the ministry's Immigration Bureau.
     The man, whose name is being withheld by the lawyers,
applied for political asylum last year. Kurds in Turkey who
assert their ethnicity can be charged with violating
anti-terrorism laws, the lawyers said.
     The man apparently came to Japan in 1995 to flee from
Turkish police surveillance which continued after he was tried
for political crimes several years ago, according to Masahi
Ichikawa, one of his lawyers. He claims to have been tortured on
several occasions by Turkish police and required surgery as a
result.
     Ichikawa says that an official of the ministry told one of
the defense lawyers on July 10 that the ministry may arrest more
refugee applicants in the future.
     Such moves would contravene the Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees. The international agreement, which Japan
endorsed in 1982, stipulates that member countries should
not penalize refugees for the reason of entering the country
illegally or staying in the country without valid visas, Ichikawa
said.
     Yuichi Suzuki, a Justice Ministry official, told the
Mainichi Daily News that refugee recognition and the arrest of
foreigners who overstay their visas are separate issues requiring
separate procedures which can take place simultaneously. However,
detainees are only deported after the ministry rejects their
applications for political refugee status, Suzuki added.
     Meanwhile, a separate group of lawyers to support political
refugees was established in Tokyo on Friday.
     The lawyers claim that many foreigners in Japan who are
eligible for refugee status have been rejected simply because
they failed to apply for the status within the required 60 days
after their entry to the country.
     The group is also urging greater transparency of the refugee
application procedure. Even lawyers are barred from sitting with
applicants during the ministry's interview, said the lawyers.

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