Relationship with the Japanese Immigration

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“It’s kind of like a double-edged sword- they can’t send us away, but then they could because they have the power to.“

An Ongoing Process

As a 17-year-old, Ozzy is legally independent of her mother. This means that she has her own Karihoumen which she must renew by herself. Every three months Ozzy is excused from school to go to immigration, explaining to teachers and peers why she needs special permission to be absent from class: “It’s kind of hard, every three months I have to explain to my school that I am not bunking, I am going to immigration to renew my visa.” Despite the inconvenience, Ozzy knows that it is indispensable that she does not forget, as late renewals of Karihoumen lead to longer waits, stricter interviews, detention centers, and even deportation. Once her mother renewed her Karihoumen late and received a 2-month stay rather than a 3-month stay- this stayed vividly in Ozzy’s memory as a wake-up call that she cannot let anything slip.

At the immigration, officers restate the rules of Karihoumen and monitor if Ozzy is following them: “They check my papers, they ask me a bunch of questions, if my address hasn’t changed, if I am still living in this prefecture, if I’m working and they say I can’t work and can’t do this, can’t do that and then I have to go all the way back to school, which is annoying now, because before it was only my mom, but now I have to go by myself.” More than anything, there are things one “can’t do” while on Provisional Release and authorities make sure to emphasize this, further socializing Ozzy to think and act inside of their box.

With these experiences, Ozzy has created a strong opinion towards the strict immigration system in Japan. 

“I don’t see the, the, I guess the positive side of accepting lower amounts than higher amounts of people. It’s just like selective picking I guess. Whether you are a refugee or you know a citizen, you’re a person that is looking to start a new life somewhere else and they should be able to without so much of a strict system. It’s a person’s life and if they are willing to keep up with the life they say they are going to do, you should help them. For families I feel like if they’ve been here a while and they are living just as normal as Japanese people do- like I go to school, Chloe goes to school, my mom learns Japanese like every day and we could contribute to society- like they should consider more, they should put that into more consideration.“

With constant efforts to live a normal life as any other citizen in Japan, Ozzy shows resentment towards the denial of her family’s refugee status. The strict selectivity of Japanese immigration, which accepts less than 1% of total refugee status applicants, has Ozzy wondering what they expect from them. She is more than willing to work in Japan and contribute to the economy, going to school and following every Karihoumen rule for the past 3 years (as of 2020). She questions if that is not enough proof for the government to allow them to build their life in Japan in peace, claiming the underlying racism in Japanese society. “They don’t want to accept you so they just make you drag on.” In the face of the segregating consequences of being an asylum seeker on Karihoumen in Japan, Ozzy emphasizes the humanity of those involved. Many times seen through statistics, refugee status applicants are people with the same needs and rights as the next. According to Ozzy, “dragging these people on” can be seen as a disrespect to the integrity of these people, and in this case, of her and her family. 

Although Japan signed the Refugee Convention in 1981 and thus has the responsibility to accept and protect refugees and asylum seekers, Ozzy feels anxious about their power to deport her and her family: “Although they can’t deport us, they could,” i.e. although they have the humanitarian obligation to welcome us, as authorities they could do whatever they want.  Here again, the Karihoumen represents uneasiness and vulnerability. Many asylum seekers on Karihoumen are ambiguously detained or deported according to the wants of immigration officers. This causes them to often feel unsteady and fearful of Japanese immigration. Although the country claims it is already “sharing the refugee burden” by helping refugees outside of Japan, the reaction to those inside is another story. Ozzy is aware of this and believes that once you give them a reason to deport you, they will. 

“Immigration could just come tomorrow and say “Yeah we’re deporting you.” That is a threat that immigration always makes: “You do understand that you could be called here at any time and could be deported or put in detention at any time.” But like we all know at the end of the day they are not going to send us nowhere. Thay can’t. But at the same time, it’s kind of like, it’s kind of like a double-edged sword- they can’t send us away, but then they could because they have the power to.“

Immigration constantly reminds asylum seekers that they are not wanted in Japan; they are directly threatening people of unstable statuses such as Karihoumen, telling them they are better off going back home. Immigration has the power to shape her life by keeping her on Karihoumen, accepting her as a refugee, or deporting her.

Fake Refugees

“There’s no way to fix the system, there’s no way to like tell; you can’t just strap a person up to a lie detector and be like “tell your story.” It’s just a thing that I don’t know, it just happens and is kind of selfish in a way. It’s kind of unfair, like just be honest and if it doesn’t work it doesn’t work, find another way. Even if you do have to lie, at least prove yourself worthy of the chance of being here because other people are here and are working hard but they don’t have the same thing as you do because now they just feel like everyone’s story, they can’t believe it.“

One of the justifications Japan Immigration states for not accepting as many refugees as other countries that have signed the Refugee Convention is the existence of ‘fake refugees’. Ozzy is also very conscious of the existence of ‘fake refugees’ and how they harm the process for ‘real refugees.’ Nevertheless, as long as one contributes to society and actively tries to build a living, she sees no reason why not to accept them: “Just because their story isn’t the one they told, doesn’t mean they are not running from something or looking for a better life.” Rather than ignoring their need of starting a new, better life in Japan, she asks ‘fake refugees’ to find other ways of living in the country, as their actions create an unfair system towards individuals like her. Applying for refugee status has become a getaway for many migrants to stay in Japan once they are inside, especially for economic reasons. This, destroys the legitimacy of claiming refuge, resulting in situations like Ozzy and her family’s, who although fled from danger and misfortune, cannot start a stable life in Japan.  

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