Japan Press Weekly

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2020 April 8 - 14 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

LDP lawmakers : Corona-related gov’t aid should be limited to Japanese only

Two Liberal Democratic Party Dietmembers have come under fire after making the remark that foreign residents in Japan should not be included in the government financial support program related to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.

LDP member of the House of Councilors Onoda Kimi in her tweet on Twitter on March 30 wrote that in a meeting of the LDP headquarters against the COVID-19 outbreak, she made a remark that recipients of coronavirus-related cash benefits from the state should be limited to Japanese citizens only. Four days later, LDP member of the House of Representatives Sugita Mio posted on Twitter a message expressing her opposition to the provision of financial support to foreign residents.

Not surprisingly, these tweets provoked severe public criticism. Many people have criticized the two LDP lawmakers for seeking to exclude from the government support measures foreign nationals despite the fact that these people live and work in Japan and pay taxes to both the local and national governments. Photojournalist Yasuda Natsuki wrote to an internet media outlet, “In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and from the viewpoint of human rights, what we must not tolerate is exclusionism,” underscoring the importance of severely opposing discriminatory ideas.

Urging Onoda to resign as a Dietmember, an online campaign is underway and it was endorsed by 12,000 people as of April 11.

The government is considering providing financial support also to foreign residents.