Rights Group Urges: Don’t deport Filipino couple from Japan

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:42:00 03/08/2009

MANILA, Philippines -- An international human rights group has called on the Japanese government to halt the deportation of an illegally staying Filipino couple and allow them to remain in Japan with their 13-year-old daughter.

Amnesty International said Tokyo should prioritize Noriko Calderon's need to be with her parents Arlan and Sarah Calderon, who has been given until Monday to leave Japan voluntarily or be deported.

"Japan must uphold its international obligation by placing the interests of the child as the primary consideration in all actions, and deporting Noriko's parents would clearly be counter to her best interests," said Roseann Rife, AI Asia-Pacific deputy program director in a statement.

The statement was posted on the website of AI’s United States chapter (http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGASA220042009〈=e).

Noriko, who was born in Japan and speaks only Japanese, has been told by the Japanese justice ministry that she must choose between going to the Philippines with her parents – who are facing deportation because of their irregular status – and remaining in Japan.

Earlier, Noriko stated publicly that she wished to remain in that country.

"I was born in Japan. I have friends in Japan and have a dream for the future. I want to be allowed to continue studying," a Japan Times report quoted her as telling a Japanese official.

Rife pointed out that Article 9 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, to which Japan is a party, provides that "State parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child."

She said Japan circumvented this obligation by declaring it interpreted the provision to be inapplicable to a case where a child is separated from the parents as a result of deportation in accordance with its immigration laws.

AI called the interpretation "unacceptable."

"The principle of placing the child's interests first lies at the very heart of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and simply cannot be set aside. We urge Japan to abide by its international obligation, as well as heed the voice of common sense and basic humanity, and allow the family to stay united in Japan," Rife said.

Arlan, 36, and Sarah, 38, went to Japan in the early 1990s using fake passports, according to the Japanese immigration agency. Sarah was arrested in July 2006.

The family received a deportation order which the Supreme Court upheld in September last year.

The couple made several pleas for special permission to remain in Japan so the family could stay together, but these were denied by justice and immigration officials.

On Friday, Justice Minister Eisuke Mori was quoted by the Times as saying the couple would be allowed to return to Japan for short stays to see Noriko.

Deported persons usually were not allowed to return to Japan for five years but an exception would be made for the couple for humanitarian reasons, Mori said.

He said Noriko could stay with her Japan-based relatives for the meantime, particularly with an aunt who has been living in Saitama Prefecture. Noriko currently attends a junior high school in Warabi, a city in Saitama, which is part of the Greater Tokyo metropolitan area.