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© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Police arrest 11 Chinese for working without visas; 47 others missing
By Mari Yamaguchi TOKYO©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
31 Comments
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jcapan
Bad foreigners, bad!
Unnamed construction companies and their owners who intentionally employed them? Crickets.
Akie
What kind of Japanese govt is it ? They don't arrest people who rub Japan off, but people who actually worked for Japan.
kurisupisu
Which company hired the Chinese to do jobs that Japanese are not interested in and which are hard and tough?
Yubaru
There are, according to past articles here on JT, something close to 200,000 foreigners living and working here without valid visas and they go after this group who are actually doing something constructive?
I wonder what the company did to tick off the immigration authorities and get the police involved!
Tokyo-Engr
I agree with the general sentiment here and apply the same to my home country, the U.S. The companies that knowingly hired the workers should be punished for this. The workers should be asked to return to their home country and given instructions on how to enter the country legally if they wish to.
Instead the likely outcome will be these people will be held in a detention center somewhere for God only knows how long and then deported and disallowed from entering the country for 5 years. The business that hired them will go find more illegal workers to exploit and recycle the process.
Gee...this Ghosn thing is making me bitter and cynical...
since1981
Interesting how the company that did not properly ensure immigration paperwork was up to date was not named in this article. Speaking from experience in the Eikaiwa Industry, is the sole responsibility of the employer to ensure its employee's visas are up to date. It's all part of the contracting procedure.
Meiyouwenti
The obvious solution is raising wages for construction work so that young people in Japan will find career in construction attractive. But after two decades of deflation, employers only think of cutting labor costs by hiring foreign workers.
Tokyo-Engr
@Meiyouwenti - This is also a problem in the U.S. There has been some pretty severe wage deflation for construction workers. One example: A good framer (build the frame for a house) could make a good living and support a family through hard work. Contractors became greedy and started to hire those in the U.S. illegally paying them 30-40% less than the legal workers and also avoiding some of the payroll taxes. This was not the fault of the illegal aliens but completely the fault of the greedy contractors. I saw this happen to one of my best friends from high school. The situation is in no way unique to Japan.
Aly Rustom
You said it!!
exactly. whether you are a CEO, a construction worker, or a teacher, always rely on the fact that you will be scapegoated for the simple fact that you are a foreigner.
Goodlucktoyou
62yr and working for stuff all in a construction site in japan. Illegally? I thought China was booming...
kurisupisu
China is booming but salaries are still higher here...
Jenna Mary Ellen Kelly
I hope they arrest the people who employed them as well. Employing people who don’t have the proper visas is illegal as well.
Cricky
58 illegal workers (ominous music) questions about the company (sad music) illegal immigration in detention ( foreboding music) company management ( drunken karaoke music) sounds right for Japan. Prosecutors ( Benny Hill theme)
Zack
The hiring company's boss should be arrested too. if there is justice.
ThePBot
...maybe they finally asked their boss for some compensation for the work they've done?
Madden
Just a sign of things to come!
socrateos
If they want to work and their employers are happy with them and treat them fairly, then just give them working visa. What's the fuss?
Illegality part is not significant issue because all you have to do is legalizing it. The simplest and best solution is just a click away.
Matt Hartwell
There are plenty of young men living in South East Asia that would like this opportunity. Millions of poor rice and corn farmers would could do with work in the off season.
Why doesn't Japan strike up a deal with say Thailand and Vietnam on short term work visas?
Obviously you need to provide decent conditions and pay.
Harry_Gatto
The hiring company's boss should be arrested too.
My thoughts too, he should be in the next cell to CG.
However, there will be chain of companies involved in supplying this labour and the construction company will claim that they were told by the "supplier" of the labour that they were fully legal.
GW
Yeah, BUT I bet in your country when CAUGHT there were consequences for the owners, as we see countless time in Japan, the OFFENDING companies, mostly remain nameless & blameless!! But certainly SHAMEFULL!!
Scrote
I imagine the company that "mobilised" these workers is run by gangsters and that's why it isn't named and why nobody from the company has been arrested.
socrateos
Demands and supplies met. This is a natural consequence of the market economy. What's wrong is artificial prohibitions. Let the market run its course. Stop meddling with it. It's government officials who should be in jail.
smithinjapan
jcjapan: "Unnamed construction companies and their owners who intentionally employed them? Crickets."
Exactly! Not ONE mention of the company. Why? It might damage the company's reputation, which is of course a big no-no, especially since corporate greed and scandal is par for the course in Japan. But also because they never will do it, since especially in the construction business they DEPEND on illegal labor to turn a profit. If they punished the company that employed these illegals, that would send a bad message to other companies, which might make them feel bad
BackpackingNepal
This is why Hong Kong is recently changing all residents' SMART ID card to even SMARTER ID card. (Smart Twice or Smart 2.0 or Smart x 2..something like it...and they said it will be enough to not go smartest)
Nevertheless, ID card system should be made in Japan and rest of the country, Passport creating too many problems. In India, airport officer even tears up the passport because of jealousy and in Nepal, they stamp incorrectly).
bones
They could have simply fast tracked these people to the new “foreigners with skills “ program that they have been mentioning to help “fill” jobs and boost the ABEconomy!!!!
Silvafan
Anything involving Japanese middlemen companies are always bad. They are a bane on the society and economy.
Dango bong
did you arrest the scumbag employers?
Tokyo-Engr
GW
There are not always consequences for the owners for hiring illegal aliens in the U.S. There have been cases where this has occurred but I believe normally this does not happen.
Yes it is shameful in Japan as well as in the U.S.; you are right.
Azzprin
I do not know about Japan but in the UK every illegally worker cost the company they work for a fine of £10,000 (about 1.5 million Yen) per illegal worker found.
11 caught ones would equal ¥ 16.5 million
For all 58 workers it would equal about ¥ 87 million
Fines like that could persuade employers to avoid cheap illegal labour from outside Japan and to pay better wages to encourage more Japanese to work for them.
seadog538
Even in countries that don't have "fast ageing work force" this is a problem. It's more to do with desperate people wanting to earn money and those who would exploit them by paying lower wages and poor working conditions.