September 7, 2025

Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers Kira Yoshiko (House of Councillors), Motomura Nobuko (House of Representatives) and Yamazoe Taku (House of Councillors) on September 5 participated in a protest held in front of the main gate of the Diet building against forced deportations of foreigners without residency status.

The protesters called for a society where the lives and dignity of all people can be protected.

Motomura stated, “The Immigration Services Agency’s stance of dismissing refugee applications and forcing asylum seekers out of Japan is utterly unreasonable,” and demanded that a “refugee protection commission” independent from the government be established. Kira said, “Human rights violations against children, regardless of their nationality, are absolutely intolerable.”

Sugiyama Seiko of the “National Network for Protecting Human Rights - Asia Pacific (NPHR),” one of the organizing groups, noted that the Immigration Services Agency is intensifying forcible repatriations, and criticized the Liberal Democratic Party and its supplementary parties for promoting discrimination against foreigners and division among people by putting up slogans like “zero illegal foreigners” and “Japanese first.”

A 10-year-old schoolgirl said, “We’ve lived here for ten years, so why? I don’t want my dad (who lacks residency status) to be sent back to Turkey.”

A 1st-year high school student said, “My father is sick and needs surgery. But because he’s on ‘temporary release’ and doesn’t have a healthcare insurance card, he can’t receive the needed surgery.” She continued to say that in order to undergo surgery, he must report to the immigration agency to apply for permission. She added, “I’m worried he might be forcibly deported.”

A 2nd-year junior high school student, whose dream is to become a professional soccer player, said with a sigh, “One of my friends who shared the same dream with me was deported.”

A woman from the Philippines denounced the abuse she received during her 4-year detention, saying that she “fainted from hunger multiple times” in overcrowded and unsanitary rooms. She stated she was diagnosed with PTSD after her release.