| The news of the release has been very positive
for those involved in the problem of the detention of Afghani asylum seekers
in Tokyo.
On Oct 3, nine Afghanis were detained by the Tokyo Immigration Bureau. On October 9, they filed a suit in Tokyo District Court asking for a suspension of the detention. The Third Civil Cases Division of Tokyo District Court (Chief Judge: Mr. Masayuki Fujiyama) ordered the suspension of the detention of five asylum seekers, who were under its investigation. They were released from the Tokyo Immigration Detention Center on Nov. 9. The contents of the ruling were historic. It read as follows: "The court finds that the Tokyo immigration Bureau and Justice Ministry of Japan are ignoring the International Covenant on Refugees. Their policy of ignoring the covenant runs against the international order, and we have no choice but to say that it has exerted a negative effect on the public welfare." The ruling criticizes not only this particular detention against the Afghani asylum seekers but also the policy on refugees which has been carried out by the Justice Ministry. The Tokyo Immigration Bureau appealed the decision on the following day to the Tokyo High Court. We are very grateful for this very encouraging decision from the court, and strongly criticize the bureau and the Justice Ministry for appealing the decision. On the other hand, in the case of four other asylum
seekers who were investigated under the Second Civil Cases Division of
Tokyo District Court (chief judge: Mr. Youten Ichimura), the division decided
not to suspend the detention and to allow their continued detention. In
the decision, the division admitted that there was a certain possibility
that they were in fact "covenant refugees," but also said there was the
possibility that they were illegal workers who were trying to misuse the
refugee system. The four asylum seekers who are still under detention appealed
the
There are no difference between the five asylum
seekers who were released and those who remain in detention; they were
automatically divided between the two divisions of the Tokyo District Court.
They are all refugees who fled from the terrible persecution of the Taliban
regime. There is no way to divide the five who were released and the four
who remain detained. We must fight against the Tokyo Immigration Bureau
and the Justice Ministry and get them to release the other four
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