Gov't OKs bill to release asylum seekers from detention

Japan has been criticized by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees for accepting less than 1 percent of refugee applications.

Really?

Yes really. The government are so scared of foreigners, even a "permanent" visa (7years) is a problem. Can't vote and suspicious for stealing bikes. So far to go so long to fix. Oh a foreigner must be dangerous seems to be the policy.

"supervisory measures" under which detainees are released upon paying a deposit of up to 3 million yen and their supporters, designated by the immigration authorities, are required to monitor their situation and report back to them.

Refugees have the connections in Japan to access that level of funds?Seems like an amount many residents would be hard pressed to access.

....The government are so scared of foreigners, even a "permanent" visa (7years) is a problem. ...Oh a foreigner must be dangerous seems to be the policy.

No , it completely differs. Because a few were or are really dangerous, the big rest gets the problems with permanent residency. So , there is nothing to complain. We foreigners couldn’t or can’t hold in check our own few bad examples and therefore it can’t be helped to be treated suspicious.

Japan's Human rights Ambassador Ueda 2013

-"Certainly Japan is not in the middle ages.... DON'T LAUGH!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkoQjIBA_3U

Personally i don't understand why asylum seekers are even tryng their luck in Japan. We are on islands. We have harsh winters and natural disasters yearly. Not to mention most people living in cities were space is limited and is still a very expensive lifestyle inside cities. And without proper education is hard to find decent work and even then the working conditions are very strict with many working hours. Then you also have to learn the language and all the law and traditions of the nation.

Shouldn't they be better off trying their luck in other countries which have a more similar culture or at least some land locked countries? Personally i think any refugee who tries their luck in Japan clearly enjoy suffering. Even if by luck they manage to get in, eventually they will see that their future is bleak here in japan. You cannot just expect to assimilate here in 2-3 years. People spend decades to truly assimilate and get use to living here.

Good news for our brothers and sisters who have been unjustly treated.

Personally i think any refugee who tries their luck in Japan clearly enjoy suffering.

Same for us residents.

But we love it and there's enough to share.

This is another article that can be read with a completely different context depending on your experience on the subject. And my hands-on experience after visiting many detention centers all around the country is: 1 in a 100 asylum seekers are legit. I can meet 1, 2 poor refugees totally clueless about strict Japan getting detained at the airport and waiting for their procedures inside detention centers. The rest, well..... they had a visa, had a chance to improve their lives but ended up commiting crimes, overstaying their visas at the prison/pólice station and claiming asylum after all their legal chances of retrieving their visas are over.

Immigration has always been a thorn in the side for foreigners in Japan. One only has to look at the history of Japan, and evolving mentality of the Japanese over time. Sakoku the period where Japan cut itself from the rest of the world (300 years??) only to open again with the threat of canon ball fire. The Japanese are quite happy to be by themselves. Foreigners will always be seen as a threat.

Dangerousjisan, to complement your post: "We have existed this way for thousands of years. Who are you to challenge our ways?" - Dragonetti

....The Japanese are quite happy to be by themselves. Foreigners will always be seen as a threat.

They went foraging abroad to be by themselves ? They join world organizations to be by themselves ? They are holding the olympics to be by themselves ?

The uncontacted ( primitive?) peoples of the Amazon, Andaman etc need to be left alone. The Japanese ? Greed, pride and selfishness defines their dna.

Finally rich. In response to your comments above I do not challenge their ways. But, canon balls did once challenge their ways, and maybe again something on the horizon will challenge their ways. I can see China and Korea doing so already.