The Tokyo Court Decided to Cancel The Forced Deportation of the Amine Khlil Family
There have been many cases up to now of people trying
to oppose the Ministry of Justice's decision to make them leave Japan
after the Ministry says they have "no reason" for Special Residence
Permission. Past court decisions affirmed that the Minister of Justice
has broad rights in making decisions regarding Special residence permission
and that foreign citizens only need to be protected within the legal visa
system.
On September 19th, the ruling given to the Amine Khlil family's case
by the Tokyo District Court was a historic decision changing all past
trends. The ruling may help foreign citizens protest the original decisions
against their special residence permission. The Tokyo Court on December
19th explained that, decisions by the Minister of Justice only cover the
Ministry's internal matters and cannot be used with authority over the
public. Therefore, it said, there is no need to protest the Ministry's
ruling. However, it ruled that the Chief Examiners of a case do have a
right to decide: 1)if a forced deportation order can be issued, and, if
so, 2)when that order would be issued.
Furthermore, the court wrote, "In truth, all rulings must be made
based on the law. However, when clear and real standards exist for laws
that affect foreign citizens positively, as long as that law is equal
and fair, we cannot ignore those standards." This means that the
standards, not written but clear, created by the United Movement for Special
Permission from September 1, 1999 had to be considered for the Amine Khalil
family's case.
Also, the court wrote about long illegal stays by foreign citizens in
Japan. It said, "When foreign citizens without legal residence live
openly and peacefully in this country as good citizens without causing
problems, then they should have a chance to gain special residence permission
based on the standards in fact already made." By saying this, it
ruled that the original decision (denying the Khlil family) was not fair
because it ignored real standards and used the government's authority
wrong. Therefore, that decision could be cancelled. The Tokyo Court also
wrote about the case of the Mario Family in Kobe. In the Marios' case,
the supreme court originally ruled, "foreign citizens who stay illegally
in Japan should not be given legal help, even when their stay is peaceful
and they have a stable, long term living standard in their community."
This supreme court decision was wrong by not thinking of the positive
impact of living in one place for a long time.
Also, the court spoke about the mental stress of children forced to return.
It said that there is a chance that a child would be mentally stressed
by trying to live a normal life after leaving Japan, therefore "The
Treaty on the Rights of the Child Article 3 must be considered."
This means that children cannot be forced to leave Japan if it will hurt
them. In fact, Amine's oldest daughter is now in her third year in middle
school and, if she were forced to go to Iran, we do not know if she could
adjust to society and education there.
In addition, the court set up ways for us to think about the balance
of principles. If the Amine family were forced to return to Iran, there
would be a big change in their family, especially with their daughter.
This would be inhumane. On the other hand, if the family were given special
residence permission, there would not be a great change or problem for
them. The court said, "When we compare the disadvantages possible
in the Amine family's return and the disadvantages possible in their stay,
we see that they would be better by staying. The original decision asking
them to leave Japan was against proper court consideration for relative
advantage."
The ruling by the Tokyo District court, in many ways, reminds us of the
Japanese government's responsibility concerning its treatment of non-legal
immigrants in Japan building their lives here. It also said that the chief
examiners must follow certain rules before telling foreign citizens to
leave; They cannot act freely. However, the Japanese government wants
to fight this ruling and filed a case on October 2nd. The government must
know that it cannot grab all foreign citizens and send them away to make
them zero. They must know that all over Japan they are stepping on the
rights of foreign citizens. They should know that by using the special
residence permission system to give people legal stay, they can solve
many problems. People who have made stable lives here in Japan especially
need immediate attention.
(Katsuo Yoshinari)
東京地裁がアミネ・カリルさんら家族の退去強制令書発布処分を取り消す判決を出す
APFS is
in a Pinch!!!
Consultation Cases Dramatically dropped over the Summer!!
We are going to go back and rebuild our consultation work!!
Tsutomu Tsugawa
APFSの大ピンチ―今夏、相談件数が激減!!
初心に戻って、相談活動を再建しよう!
津川 勤
今日は、これまでの一連の連載から離れて、最近の相談活動の“異変”について書きます。
7月頃から相談件数が減り始め、8月に入ると一気に激減。ついに、8月のある相談日は相談件数がゼロという事態に陥ったのです。こんなことはAPFS15年の歴史のなかで一度も経験したことのない異常事態です。何しろ2年前ぐらいまでは、予約がいっぱいで2ヵ月先にようやく予約が取れるといった具合だったのですから。
皆さんもよくご承知のように、APFSのさまざまな活動の基盤は相談活動です。行動やイベントにたくさんの外国籍会員が参加し続けてきたのも、日頃の相談活動を通じて信頼関係を築いてきたからです。
APFSが活動理念として掲げる「相互扶助」の原点といえるでしょう。また、APFSの活動を支える財政は、相談者の会費や寄付金によってはじめて成り立ってきました。そんなわけで、相談者の減少は、活動の点からも財政の点からも、APFSの存在にかかわる一大事といえるのです。
このような危機的な事態が進行するや、日頃はある意味で楽天的(?)な相談スタッフもミーティングを重ねました。また、緊急に運営委員会を開き、外国籍スタッフから率直な意見を求めました。そのなかで、このような事態を招いた原因、問題点、そして、その克服方針について話し合いました。まだ結論が出ていないわけではなく、その討論は続行中ですが、とりあえず、これまで飛びかった意見を以下、私なりにまとめてみます。
一つは、相談スタッフのスタンスの問題です。APFSに相談に来る理由は「あそこは親切で信頼できる」という口コミネットワークによってでしょう。ところがこの間、「APFSは対応が、ぞんざい、冷たい、遅い」といった声があがっていたのではないか。ひるがえって考えるに、相談スタッフは長年、数多くの相談をやっていくうちに、「慣れ」と「こなし」と「忙しさ」に流されてしまい、積もり積もってそのような傾向を確かにつくっていたのではないか。ここはもう一度、初心・原点に戻って日々の活動を点検、反省し、一人ひとりの相談者に親身に寄り添い、「親切で信頼されるAPFS」像を再構築していく必要があるだろう、ということです。
次に、相談体制の問題です。これまでの相談体制は、予約制(「飛び込み」で来る場合は基本的に断わり、予約を入れてもらう)、相談日は土曜日のみ、1日の相談件数は8件まで(それとは別に緊急のケースの枠として2件)、電話相談は基本的に行なわないといったものでした。これには、確かにそれなりの理由がありました。
しかし、この体制を頑固に守ってきた結果、ほころびが出てきたのではないか。相談者はみな、せっぱつまった問題を抱え、一刻も早く相談したいのです。それなのに、1ヵ月先、2ヵ月先の予約では、「APFSの対応は、ぞんざい、冷たい、遅い」という声があがっても当然だったのかもしれません。実際、1年ほど前から予約を入れたのに相談にこない人が増え始め、予約者の半分は来ない状態が続いていたのです。待ち切れないということでしょう。そんなわけで、相談体制を修正しようということになりました。つまり、基本は維持したうえで、相談日を別に平日の木曜日と日曜日に随時、設けること。飛び込みの相談者には、居住地の遠さや緊急性を考慮して柔軟に対応すること。電話相談もすべて断わってしまうのではない、簡単な内容のものは行なうこと。要するに、相談はできる限り早く受けるようにすることです。
さて、その後の相談状況についてです。9月に入っても減少傾向は続いていましたが、10月に入ってから持ち直し、現在は、以前の状態に戻りつつあります。今後についてもなお、予断を許しません。今回の“8月危機”で、これまでのAPFSの相談活動のあり方を反省し、そして飛躍に向けた「良い機会」にすることが求め続けられています。「のど元過ぎれば熱さを忘れる」にならないように自戒をこめて。
ASIAN PEOPLE'S FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY(APFS)