Japan toughens refugee-screening system

January 23, 2018

Tokyo- Japan has toughened its refugee-screening system in response to a steep increase in the number of applicants deemed to be seeking work permits rather than protection.

On Jan. 15, the Ministry of Justice started sorting applicants through preliminary screenings to eliminate bogus asylum seekers from the time-consuming regular process for examining applications.

The UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as a person who is outside the country of his or her nationality "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion."

People who are granted refugee status have improved chances to get permanent residence permits as well as "kokumin nenkin" basic public pension and welfare benefits.

Since 2010, Japan has granted work permits to all asylum seekers six months after they file for refugee status. While the system is aimed at helping their lives more during the screening process than under the previous system, the number of applications has soared as a result.

In 2010, 1,202 people filed for refugee status. The number of applications set record highs for six years running from 2011 and exceeded 10,000 for the first time in 2016.

After only 28 people were recognized in 2016 as meeting the definition of refugees under the U.N. treaty, the ministry concluded that most applicants were seeking work permits and started reviewing the screening system.

The ministry adopted a set of countermeasures in September 2015. For example, the ministry will not issue work permits to people who resubmit applications for the same reasons as before without legitimate justification. In addition, people who repeat applications for reasons clearly unrelated to the definition of refugees are denied residence permits.

As the countermeasures have produced only limited results, however, the ministry decided to toughen the screening system itself, including applications from first-time asylum seekers, officials said.

The refugee-screening process takes about nine months on average to complete, or two and a half years if applicants appeal the decisions to turn down their requests.

Asylum seekers can submit applications again, and applicants are allowed to work during the screening period.

Under the new system, the ministry has scrapped the practice of issuing work permits to all asylum seekers six month after they file for refugee status.

Instead, a preliminary screening is conducted within two months of an application in order to divide applicants into four groups--people considered highly likely to be recognized as refugees, those who cannot be judged promptly, those who are deemed ineligible for refugee status, and those who have submitted applications for a second or more times.

People in the "clearly ineligible" group, such as those who cite debts in their home countries as a reason for seeking refugee status and people who file for the status repeatedly without legitimate grounds, are banned from work and deported after their visas expire.

Residence and work permits are issued promptly to applicants in the "highly likely" group. For applicants who are difficult to judge quickly, the ministry will examine each application and determine whether to provide work permits on an individual basis.

The ministry hopes that the introduction of the preliminary screening system will facilitate the process of examining applications from those genuinely in need of refugee status, the officials said.

As the issuing of work permits will be curbed, the ministry expects the number of false asylum seekers to fall, the officials said. Jiji Press