Japanese-Filipinos warned vs crime gangs after court ruling

Agence France-Presse and Inquirer.net
First Posted 18:41:00 08/04/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Advocacy groups Monday warned Japanese-Filipino children against groups which may try to recruit them to work illegally in Japan after a historic court ruling that could grant them citizenship.

While the advocacy groups welcomed the Japanese Supreme Court's ruling in June granting nationality to children born out of wedlock to Japanese fathers and Filipina mothers, they warned it may also lead to forms of abuse.

The decision "might lead to people to conclude that there is now a market for JFC (Japanese-Filipino children) to work in Japan," a joint statement by the Development Action for Women Network (DAWN), the Batis Center for Women and the Maligaya House said.

"Many JFCs and their mothers who continue to struggle in life might become vulnerable to unscrupulous elements who will take advantage of their difficult plight to recruit them for possible exploitative work in Japan," said the groups, who represent Japanese-Filipino children in Manila.

Mika Matsuzawa, a youth activist for Batis and herself half Japanese, said many Japanese-Filipinos who grew up in the Philippines were not recognized by their Japanese fathers.

While the majority want to meet their fathers for personal reasons, many also want to go to Japan for economic reasons.

"However, this poses some problems because usually they fall prey to illegal recruiters. Most of the time, they end up as laborers in factories without the guarantee of enjoying the rights of a Japanese citizen," she said.

The children's mothers are usually Filipina entertainers who worked in Japan and met Japanese men while working there.

Once pregnant the mothers returned to the Philippines, where the children were born out of wedlock.