New Immigration Law will penalize victims of human trafficking in Japan

The Migrante Sectoral Party calls on the Macapagal-Arroyo government to clear the air and appropriately respond to a new immigration control law that will ride roughshod on victims of human trafficking in Japan.

Law No. 73 enacted by the Japanese Diet in its 159th session on June 2, 2004 enabled the Partial Amendment of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act as a reaction to a supposed "deterioration of public security" and to address rampant human trafficking.

When issues and laws of "public security" - a euphemism for anti-terror legislation - crop up, victims of human trafficking, undocumented migrant workers and foreign residents become targets of inhumane procedures that include warrantless arrests, jail terms, steep fines and deportation.

Technically, most of all the 304,678 Filipinos in Japan may be subjected to the harsh penalties and procedures of the new Japanese law.

Effective last December 2, 2004, the said Immigration Control aims to immediately decrease the number of the estimated 250,000 'illegal foreign residents' that include at least 31,000 Filipino overstayers, 82,000 Filipino entertainers, and thousands of Filipino wives whose residency status can be revoked by the Japanese government.

Entertainers, trainees, Filipina wives and undocumented Filipinos (also called 'bilogs') who comprise the bulk of Filipinos in Japan will be criminalized by this new law. Human traffickers will go scot-free, continue wreaking havoc on the lives of foreign residents, and continue to amass more profits out of the blood and sweat of migrant workers.

The Japanese government offered victims of human trafficking very little in legal remedies, psychological and financial support. Generally, victims will be deported as illegal aliens under the new law after being meted bigger fines that range from 2 million Japanese Yen (P1.1 million) to 3 million Japanese Yen (P1.65 million at current exchange rates of P0.55 = 1 Yen), and jail terms.

The new immigration law and the crackdown on undocumented Filipinos in Japan do not address the issue of human trafficking. It will only raise revenues for the Japanese authorities by further penalizing Filipino victims of human trafficking.

The Macapagal-Arroyo government has so far only expressed concern for the possible loss of the annual average of US$1 billion in remittances from Filipinos in Japan. It is only seeking a moratorium in the implementation of the new immigration law and looking for other country-destinations to deploy Filipina entertainers. In this light, both the Philippine and Japanese governments are in fact perpetrators in the trafficking of Filipinas.

Seeking a moratorium on the new immigration law is only staving off an impending tsunami of further abuse and criminalization of our compatriots in Japan. The Philippine government should exact all measures to protect the democratic rights and welfare of Filipinos in Japan who are targets of the new immigration law.