May 11, 2021

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on May 10 held a press conference in the Diet building and said, "Together with other opposition parties, the JCP will make all-out efforts to block the adverse revision of the Immigration Control Act from being passed through the Diet."

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties is seeking to have a vote taken on the revision bill this week. Koike said, "The revision, if enacted, will further aggravate the situation of human rights abuses against foreign nationals in Japan. We are adamantly opposed to the revision."

He pointed out that there are several problems with the revision itself, saying, "The revision will not address and correct the inhumane issue of long-term immigration detention in Japan."

Koike referred to the fact that a 33-year-old Sri Lankan woman, Wishma Sandamali, died in March at a Nagoya detention facility, and said that he had read the government interim report on her death. He said he suspects that the Nagoya immigration authorities did not give her appropriate medical treatment although they noticed a serious health deterioration from her symptoms. "The immigration authorities should be held responsible for her death. Why did she die? A fact-finding investigation is needed," he added.

He went on to say, "Japan will inevitably come under international criticism if it steamrollers through the adverse revision of the immigration law." Noting that the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan opposed a vote on the revision bill without finding out the cause of Wishma's death, he added, "The JCP will work together with other opposition parties to have the bill scrapped."

Past related article:
> JCP Fujino calls for probe into Sri Lankan woman's death in detention [April 22, 2021]