Japan Immigration Agency To Change Deportation Law


Japan immigration agency to change deportation law

NHK has learned that Japan's immigration authority will allow some foreigners who have refused deportation orders to stay with family members or supporters, outside of government facilities, if they meet certain conditions.

The Immigration Services Agency is working on a draft revision of the laws on immigration and deportation.

There is an increasing number of foreigners who rejected orders to leave Japan and are being kept in long-term detention at government facilities.

The agency is planning to allow some of these people who it deems unlikely to flee to stay with family members or supporters outside of such facilities until they leave the country.

The agency is hoping the revised law will encourage foreigners who are in the country illegally to leave voluntarily. It is planning to shorten the required time away from the country before these people can return to Japan from five years to one, on the condition that they express an intention to leave the country before they receive deportation orders.

The agency also plans to change how it handles refugee applications. Under the current law, applicants are allowed to remain in the country while their applications are processed. Repeated applications tend to result in longer periods of detention.

The agency is planning to end the suspension of deportation in cases where a second application is rejected, even if a third is submitted.

It plans to put in place a new process to order the deportation of detainees who exhibit disruptive behavior. There will be the possibility of prison if the order is refused.

The agency plans to submit a revision bill to the ordinary session of the Diet next year.