News Japan's hidden darkness: Deaths, inhumane treatment rife at immigration centers

This is heart-breaking to read and unworthy of the third-largest economy in the world.

Back on the screen in the Mito courtroom, a group of immigration officials enter the room. Footage of them trying to drag the man onto a wheelchair is shown. Though he is clearly in pain, the officials shout "No!" at him in harsh, admonishing tones. Footage shows him falling repeatedly from the bed and wheelchair, ending up writhing on the floor. At around 8 p.m. on the day before he dies, his movements gradually become more languid and his speech became choppy. After a groan escapes his lips, his arms, outstretched toward the wheelchair while he remains on the ground, fall. Unsparing images of a man facing the end of his life play out in the court. The judge watches the images intently, hand over the mouth with a flushed face. At 1 a.m. on the day he died, the man is on the floor, and his head and feet are shaking. Left in that state, he is confirmed six hours later to have suffered cardiorespiratory arrest. [...]

Responding to one question about the case from a judge, a lawyer representing the government said with a smile, "We still haven't gotten a response (from Cameroon)" -- a response that could be interpreted as prejudice toward a developing country. A voice from the gallery could be heard criticizing the government team's attitude, saying, "How can you smile while the responsibility for the loss of a life is called into question?"

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Mehmet Colak's case, mentioned in the article above, was covered by Mainichi, too. It's equally upsetting.

Can you imagine 200000 Chinese coming here every year applying for refugee status, Japan would begin to look like the southern States in America.
I'm with the Japanese govt. on this. Send them back. If the Japanese have the laws, enforce them, if not, Japan will soon be a 3rd world **** hole just like many American and Europeans cities these days.
Stay tough Japan law makers, Don't give into the bull **** political correctness. Your country will lose big time. Sweden is a good example of this.

I do understand your point of view, but this is not so much about whether they are granted asylum or not, but more about treating them as human beings, with dignity, and at the very least afford them basic medical care.

musicisgood - there's little benefit to introducing hypothetical figures into a discussion.

First, as Thomas says, it's about treating fellow humans with dignity,

Second, I was wondering if you read the report this week about the changes in Japan's population. The basic changes are a decrease in
the number of Japanese by about 430,000 and an increase in non-Japanese by about 160,000.
It's reasonable to assume that about at least 200,000 foreigners arrived in Japan to live last year (the 160,000 was a net increase and some
foreigners would have also left Japan). These people are official immigrants, who have come here to work, live with their spouses, study, etc., with the
permission of Japanese immigration law. The number of asylum seekers is small by comparison (about 10,000). It's a moot point how many of them
should have been allowed to stay, although I think the extremely low number does Japan no credit at all and they are losing out on an opportunity to
accept some people highly motivated to settle and contribute to Japan. However, even if all of them were accepted, it would make little difference
to the rapid internationalisation of parts of Japan.

Third, as an immigrant yourself, be careful of what you wish for. In my country (Britain), in the early 2010s, the home office intentionally created an
atmosphere hostile to immigrants. Trucks with messages such as 'Are you here illegally? Go home' were driven around multethnic areas and
most of the newspapers were leading with anti-immigrant stories almost every day (I do not exaggerate, I was shocked every time I went back to Britain). The result was no effect on the number of immigrants but a large increase in racism and racist attacks. I read a recent story of a German academic in London who was
talking in German on his mobile and an elderly women came up to him and spat out 'Speak f***king English!'.

I have some sympathy with the view that immigration hasn't been handled well in western countries, but I strongly think that it's a topic that needs rational discussion based on facts not hypothetical situations.

I suppose my thoughts were mostly of people coming to Japan to deceive the authorities at port for their reasons to come to Japan. That's why I made my statement "harsh".
All of us here who have a Japanese spouse know its hard just to live in this country, but when a person comes here with false intentions, ship them back immediately to where they come from.

musicisgood said:

I suppose my thoughts were mostly of people coming to Japan to deceive the authorities at port for their reasons to come to Japan. That's why I made my statement "harsh".
All of us here who have a Japanese spouse know its hard just to live in this country, but when a person comes here with false intentions, ship them back immediately to where they come from.

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Not really about immigration/asylum but what did you mean by 'it's hard just to live in this country'? Not agreeing or disagreeing with you, just genuinely curious about your thoughts.

musicisgood said:

Can you imagine 200000 Chinese coming here every year applying for refugee status, Japan would begin to look like the southern States in America.
I'm with the Japanese govt. on this. Send them back. If the Japanese have the laws, enforce them, if not, Japan will soon be a 3rd world **** hole just like many American and Europeans cities these days.
Stay tough Japan law makers, Don't give into the bull **** political correctness. Your country will lose big time. Sweden is a good example of this.

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You have no idea how the asylum process works lol the only people from China who would get in would be uighurs and political opponents of the communists and Japan would probably accept them on the basis that 'an enemy of an enemy is my friend'.

The places you talk about being like **** holes are probably like the ones that America and European countries wantonly bombed and interfered with politically anyway....