The Japanese government considers a residency status for undocumented foreign children

Looks like the Japanese government is considering granting residency status to children of foreigners who are residing in the country illegally. This would provide them with a basic level of security in life, which is great news.

Currently, if someone applies for refugee status and is rejected twice, immigration authorities can deport them. However, if their application is still pending, they cannot be deported at that time.

If the law is passed as it stands, even children who were born and raised in Japan but whose parents are residing illegally in the country could be deported along with their parents.

But don’t worry, there is hope. The opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is calling for “special permission to stay in Japan” to be granted to children in that situation.

The ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, and its coalition partner, Komeito, have proposed including “the interests of children” in the legislation as a factor to consider when deciding whether to grant the special permission to stay in Japan.

Currently, there are over 4,200 foreigners who have received deportation orders and are in Japan, including 201 children who were born in Japan and are under 18 years old.

The government and the ruling party are considering granting the special permission to stay in Japan to those 201 children as much as possible if the revised law is approved. Options for their parents are still being discussed.

The Constitutional Democratic Party is also calling for the fostering of personnel capable of working as refugee researchers and for more information to be gathered about the home countries of refugee status applicants.

Although there are some ongoing negotiations, it is still unclear whether an agreement will be reached. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for everything to turn out well!