June 19, 2025

The Japanese Communist Party together with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Okinawa Whirlwind on June 18 submitted to the Diet a bill to remove from the Immigration Control Act a system under which asylum seekers who apply for refugee status more than three times will face deportation even though their applications are still being examined.

In addition, the three parties’ bill calls for omitting from the law another system allowing the revocation of permanent resident status of foreign residents in Japan for minor infractions, including accidentally failing to pay taxes or social insurance premiums.

The systems in question were introduced, respectively, when the law was adversely revised in 2023 and 2024.

The bill drafted by the three parties states that in granting special residence permission, consideration should be given to foreign children born and raised in Japan without legal residency status and to overstayers and their children living in Japan for a long time. The bill states that in the case of minors, the permission decision should be made by taking into account the “best interest of the child”.

JCP member of the House of Councilors Nihi Sohei expressed his determination to work hard to enact the bill and to realize a society which places importance on people’s human rights and raising the quality of life in general.