Newsletter No. 919
News-Analysis
February 22, 2008

 

THE YOMIURI PROFILES THE ROHINGYA COMMUNITY OF JAPAN

Shingetsu Newsletter No. 658 introduced the Muslim Rohingya minority to the Shingetsu Membership in connection with a conference that was held in Tatebayashi city, Gunma Prefecture. Frankly, I was unaware of the condition of Myanmarese Muslims in Japan, and I still don't know a great deal about this community.

I very much welcome, therefore, the following article which appeared yesterday in the Yomiuri Shinbun. With the publication of this article, we can get a much clearer picture of the Rohingya community and its status in Japan. Tatebayashi is a long way from Kitakyushu, but we would certainly welcome more information about Rohingyas in Japan if one of our Members knows something more than what has been presented by the Yomiuri.

Surge Seen of 'Stateless' Myanmar Minority
Yomiuri Shinbun
February 21, 2008

There has been an increase in the number of Rohingya people, an Islamic minority in Myanmar, who continue to live in Japan as stateless residents. They have been ordered to leave the nation because they have not been recognized as refugees by the government, which at the same time has been unable to deport them to Myanmar, where they are not treated as citizens. While the government has been unable to craft effective measures to address the issue, groups supporting the Rohingyas are urging the government to grant them special residency permits at the very least. "I'd like [the Japanese government] to understand we're persecuted for our religious belief at home [in Myanmar]," said a 36-year-old Rohingya man of Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture, who came to Japan seven years ago.

Rohingyas are a Muslim ethnic minority who mostly live in the western part of Myanmar, where almost 90 percent of the population are said to be Buddhists who look askance at Muslims. According to an attorneys' group pressing the government to grant refugee status to Myanmars in Japan, Myanmar's 1982 Citizenship Law denied nationality to the Rohingya people. Surveys conducted by organizations, including the United Nations, have reported discriminatory treatment against the Rohingya people in Myanmar.

Also according to the attorneys' group, many Rohingya people have fled Myanmar to avoid persecution since 1991, when Myanmar's military junta intensified an anti-Rohingya crackdown. The move eventually led to a wave of Rohingya people starting to arrive in Japan around 2004. Many are said to use counterfeit passports when entering the nation. Fewer than 10 cases were granted refugee status, though many more people were believed to have applied. Most cases resulted in the government handing down a deportation order. However, none were actually deported to Myanmar. "Although people such as a Sudanese might not be deported on the grounds that there's an ongoing conflict in [his or her] country, it's extremely rare that the government would be unable to send back foreign citizens to their native country on the grounds the country doesn't recognize them as its native," lawyer Shogo Watanabe said.

There have been at least six lawsuits requesting the government to grant Rohingya people refugee status, with three ending up in favor of the plaintiffs. The other three cases were turned down as the judges concluded the plaintiffs would not necessarily be persecuted only because they were Rohingyas, while the court acknowledged that discrimination exists against them.

Foreigners receiving a deportation order are usually placed in an immigration authority facility until they are deported. However, in some cases, they are granted provisional release status, with restrictions on their place of residence and a limit on their range of activities while in the country. Many Rohingya people in Japan have stayed in the country with such status.

About 90 percent of the Rohingya people in Japan live in and around Tatebayashi, working part-time at car or appliance factories. Two years ago, a group of Rohingyas in the area bought a house in the city to set up a mosque for prayer. Every Sunday night, 20 to 30 people gather at the mosque. After prayers, they discuss the problems they experience daily living in Japan.

When contacted regarding the situation of Rohingya people in Japan, immigration authorities refused comment. Meanwhile, the attorneys' group urged the government to grant the Rohingyas "a secured status as soon as possible." It stressed the government should grant a special residency permit, if it will not recognize them as refugees.

Special residency permits are issued to foreigners hit with a deportation order, when the justice minister judges it necessary for such reasons as humanitarian considerations. About 9,300 foreigners were granted such permission in 2006. Those who received the status included many foreigners married to Japanese and with children, as well as people receiving medical treatment.

Concerning the status of Rohingyas in Japan, including the deportation issue, an official at the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo said the diplomatic mission "can't give an answer at the present stage."