Case Sent to the Prosecutor’s Office

There were some developments in the case of Mr. SURAJ.

Nine months have passed since Mr. SURAJ (Ghana nationality) died during deportation in March. Half a year after we filed our complaint in June, the report of ten Immigration Bureau employees was sent to the Chiba District Prosecutor’s Office on December 27th under suspicion of “assault and cruelty resulting in death by special public officials”.

On December 28th, it appeared in several forums of the Japanese media.

Tokyo Shinbun page 25 (a fairly big article)

Web articles in Asahi, Yomiuri, Sankei
http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1228/TKY201012280141.html　
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20101228-OYT1T00303.htm
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/crime/101228/crm1012281120006-n1.htm

Although the investigation was prolonged and there have been almost no movements recently, there seem to be some real developments in 2011 to recover the truth. We hope that we can expect our reader’s interest and support in the future too.

Participating in APFS Christmas Party

My name is Makita, a volunteer member of APFS

Christmas Party hosted by APFS was held in Green Hall of Itabashi-ku on Sunday December 19, 2010.  Participants were approximately 80 people from the members of APFS from various countries and their families and APFS members.  The party started with an opening address of Mr. Kato, the representative of APFS followed by toast and dinner.  It was a rare chance to enjoy various and tasty ethnic food at the same time.  The party continued such programs as bingo game, musical chair game of children, present from Santa Clause to children, musical chair game of adults, newspaper game, orange dance, and present exchange.  The party ended with a picture taking of all the participants.  Everybody enjoyed very much supported by MC warmed up the party with an excellent performance.

I realized great contribution of APFS having seen members who are obviously happy having received APFS’ support.  This opportunity encouraged me to further support APFS as a volunteer staff member.

Exchange opinions with Shin’ai-juku

Hi, this is Yamane, a stuff member of volunteers.

On November 8th, people from Shin’ai-juku visited A.P.F.S and exchanged views with A.P.F.S staff.

Shin’ai-juku, they offer the gathering, remedial class, mother tongue class,　Japanese language class, mostly for the foreign children. They also give counsel for foreign residents about their rights, education, life and so on. They do these community-based activities with a central focus on Kanagawa prefecture.

For me, the most impressive activity was that Shin’ai-juku provided aftercare for repatriated children, with going to their countries.I learned a lot from the stories expressed by the staff of Shin’ai-juku and A.P.F.S. Thank you so much.

After the conversation, we went to the Italian restaurant near the office, owned by Bangladeshi. We had a lot of fun together with having beer, cocktails and delicious foods. The members of Shin’ai-juku were friendly and fun.Thank you very much.

Asian Fair

Hi, this is Yamane, a staff member of volunteers.

On November 7th, “The 16th Asian Fair” was held.

I participated in this event with my friend as a guest. I attended Asian Fair for the first time. I had a lot of fun.

At the open space, stands of 8 Asian countries were lined up. I ate a lot of foods like “BIGO”,a dessert from Philippines, or spring rolls at Thai food stand.

On the stage, people showed enjoyable dances and touching musics, such as Bangladeshi folk music or folk dances of Thailand, Burma, Philippines. I enjoyed those unfamiliar Asian world.

Also, Japanese “Chanbara”! “Chanbara” was rare and interesting for me.

As for the rest, I had fun with buying some folk crafts at the flea market.
My friend also enjoyed today. Thank you very much.

Opened the Class “Learning Japanese/Mother Tongue with Family”

Hi, this is Yamane, a staff member of volunteers.

On October 3rd, we held the first class of “Japanese Language classes for parents / Tagalog Language/Culture classes for children”. This is for Filipino families.

Mothers learned Japanese and their children learned Tagalog. I participated the Japanese class as a volunteer of teaching Japanese. On that day, we studied and discussed about the elementary school in Phillipine and Japan in the class.

I was impressed by Teacher’s day in Phillipine, which is for respecting teachers. This is not in Japan. Also, they teach all classes in English without a mother tongue class. They have sport festival like in Japan, but they don’t have offering lunch.

All mothers are active and eager to participate in conversation, practice writing Hiragana and talk about the school in Filipine. It was a great day and I’m sure that I got more lessons than them even if I was a teaching volunteer.

Thank you.

Bus Tour

Hi, my name is Igarashi. I’ve started A.P.F.S. volunteering since May.

In Sep.21st and 22nd, A.P.F.S staff, some volunteers, A.P.F.S members and their families were participated in a bus tour held once a year. We went to KUMOMI hot springs in western-Izu where a beautiful blue sea spread out as far as the eyes could see. I expected that everyone was looking forward to going there as hot humid weather continues in Tokyo.

As for schedule,
First day, we headed for western-Izu really early morning, having a lunch together in a tour bus. Arriving in Izu, we went to Hakachizaki Garden to see Japanese Macaque Monkeys. We had a great time hanging out with monkey and taking pictures there. After we were heading back for “Chouemon”, the place we stayed, we had a party at night, drinking and eating a variety of great sea food.

Second day, having a breakfast, we went to a beach a couple minutes away from Choemon. We had so many exciting events such as a piñata-like game with a watermelon, beach volleyball, and beach flag. After that, we went to have a Seafood bowl famous as most delicious one in western-Izu.

In the past two days, we spent such a great time without any accidents. I’m really glad that exchange between A.P.F.S members and volunteers have become very active recently.

I hope that A.P.F.S will unite more strongly as having many exciting events and getting along each other.

Report of the donation for Mr.Suraj

This is the middle report of the donation for Mr. SURAJ.

Thanks for everyone, His wife was able to go to Ghana for his funeral. That was first time for her to meet his parents and they were so mournful each other by his unexpected death. However, in this trip,she could actually see his hometown.

These trip costs three hundred eighty-six thousand dollars. And so far, we collected three hundred thirty-two thousand dollars. We are still are asking for donation to fill into the gap.

Donation for Mr. SURAJ
A financial institution: Japan　Post　Bank　Co.,　Ltd.
A member :A.P.F.S.
Account Number: 00180-1-79158

*Please fill in SURAJ DONATION

We hope that we will get many requests for this donation.

Free medical checkup

My name is Nichisato. On August 1, I as a staff member of volunteers participated in an event of free medical checkup for foreigners. The event was held in Green Hall of Itabashi Ward during 10:30am to 4:00pm (reception closed at 3:00pm) in cooperation with another volunteer group of “SHARE.” The free health check is an annual event regularly held this time of the year. APFS acted as an interpreter and a consultant regarding visa, whereas SHARE carried out the medical check up.

My duty was to set up a booth and to welcome examinees at the reception to lead the way including miscellaneous works.

I notice that the atmosphere was amiable as examinees and staff members are smiling. I was glad to notice that examinees seem much satisfied as they were giving us a thanks word and making donations.

I took a checkup as my own experience as a volunteer staff member and found it comfortable, despite free checkup and minimum check items with inexpensive equipments.

Checkup follow was; reception followed by urine analysis, filling in the questionnaire, X-ray, height and body weight, blood pressure, dental checkup, others (eyes and heart) and medical and nutrition consultation (though I did not consult). Therefore the contents were substantial. Since foreigners were targeted, some foreign languages besides English were on the sign boards and interpreters were standing by in order to be foreigner friendly.

I was pleased to have made valuable experience, although I was some how puzzled due to first experience. I will make further efforts to contribute to help people in APFS.

Participating in a workshop for practical support for refugees

Hello. My name is Jinno, a staff member of volunteers.


I participated in a workshop for practical support for refugees held on July 17. Mr. Katsunori Koike made a clear and comprehensive lecture.
The workshop started with a case study; three actual cases were presented by Mr. Koike. Participants tried to verify for approval as refugees.

Afterwards Mr. Koike explained if the three cases are in compliance with international laws and domestic laws and how the problems were practically solved. At the end of session participants reviewed the cases.

I was very interested in learning after detailed explanations using application format that certain limits are caused by unclear definitions of refugees in refugee law and deportation and repatriation are strictly prohibited under even in such limits, and there are reluctancy and complexity in application for refugees at immigration office at airports in Japan since frequency of such cases are extremely low.
 
At the end of workshop Mr. Koike was kept busy in answering questions raised by participants until time up.


The workshop helped me fully understand support of refugees although I had no knowledge before. Since the workshop was so fruitful that I would like to further study to deepen my understanding. Thanks to Mr. Koike I made a valuable experience in the workshop which also gave me a chance to talk to people who are practically handling refugee support.

Vice-President Inauguration Party

Mr. Masaki Yamada, who has long worked with APFS as the consulting lawyer, has assumed the post as the vice-president of the Tokyo Bar Association. Mr. Yamada worked actively for the Action for Special Permission for Residence done by APFS during the early 1990’s.

The celebration party was held at a Chinese Restaurant in Ginza. Prominent lawyers who also advocate the protection of human rights showed up at the party, sharing numerous intriguing stories “off the record.”

APFS works hand in hand with many lawyers in tackling issues regarding the human rights of foreigners. We plan to preserve this connection with legal consultants and continue our activities in order to change society into a place where foreigners could live comfortably.

Criminal Complaint & A Silent Return Home

On Monday, June 28th, APFS lodged a criminal complaint against Mr. Suraj’s case. 3 months had passed since the case occurred on March 22nd. We were exasperated by the fact that not even the transfer for custory had been completed.

The video of the press conference after the criminal complaint can be viewed online for a limited time: http://video.aol.jp/video-detail/-/3434121529

Also, Daily Yomiuri has covered the case and placed it in the magazine as a special report: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20100629TDY01T03.htm

On the 29th, Mr. Suraj’s body made a silent return home to Ghana. Though not on the same flight, his wife departed for Ghana as well. The donation we received for the Suraj Foundation was passed on to Mrs. Suraj to cover her travel expenses (Thank you very much for the \97000 donated by June 28th). Due to the unexpectedly early departure, the donations we collected were not enough to cover the full expenses, causing Mrs. Suraj to borrow money from her friends to cover the rest. We would like to ask for your continued support and contributions to the Suraj Foundation so that we could assume the full expenses. Thank you for your cooperation.

Supporting the Victims of Human Trafficking -After participating in the workshop-

Hello. I am Yamane, a volunteer at APFS.

On Saturday, June 26th, I participated in the workshop, “IOM’s support for the victims of human trafficking,” held by the human trafficking task force coordinators from the IOM (International Organization for Migration) office in Japan. To be honest, I hadn’t known anything about human trafficking in Japan, as I thought it was a wide-spread crime outside of Japan.

I listened to stories of actual cases of human trafficking. A Filipino woman in her twenties was forced a fake marriage, was coercively taken to Japan from Manila, and worked under duress at a bar. A Thai woman (also in her twenties) entered Japan without knowing about her use of a fake passport and was forced to commit prostitution. I learned that many victims of human trafficking (for sexual and labor exploitation) suffer in Japan, and that they are in urgent need for help.

However, the low visibility of human trafficking in the Japanese society has caused a lag in the distribution of support, and we also lack government efforts and public shelters.
 
I have decided to inform the people around me of what I learned at the workshop.
I hope to participate in a workshop again. Thank you very much.

Speaking with students from Ochanomizu University

Professor Keichi Kumagai and seven students from Ochanomizu

University came to visit the APFS office!

APFS Representative Jotaro Kato began by introducing APFS’s history as an organization that has worked together with non-regular migrants to help them overcome countless difficulties. He also went on to discuss our current activities and future prospects, from our vantage as a rapidly changing organization.

Then, one of APFS’s members Garcia-san talked about his desire to live in Japan, and his feelings for his family here.  The students surely saw how deeply Garcia-san has connected with Japanese people over the course of his life here in Japan, especially when he became teary-eyed as he recalled Japanese people who had helped him in the past.

Students asked a number of impressive questions such as:

"How does APFS interact with and gain the understanding of the community?"

"Why would some people be denied Special Residence Permits, even when they meet specific guidelines?"

"Do problems arise when the primary language of parents is different than that of their children?”

We were very impressed by the sharp minds of the students and, ultimately, our time together was very educational for us all!

Nothing would make us happier than if this should lead to a greater understanding of and interest in non-regular migrants in Japan.

We would like to extend our gratitude to Professor Kumagai and everybody at Ochanomizu University!

Donations needed to help Suraj & his family

Abubakar Awudu Suraj died during a forced deportation on March 22, 2010. Right now preparations are being made to send his body to Ghana.

APFS is asking all our friends and members for donations so that Suraj’s widow may accompany her husband’s body on the trip to Ghana.

The Ministry of Justice has agreed to pay expenses for sending Suraj’s body, but they are refusing to pay for his widow’s accompaniment. Suraj’s widow not only suddenly lost the husband she shared her life with for more than 20 years, she has been unable to learn of the circumstances of his death. How cruel that she be denied this one chance to accompany him to his country and see his family.

Please help us see that Suraj’s widow will be able to accompany her husband on his final journey home and be there when he is reunited with his family. 

Please send donations to:
Bank Name: Japan Post Bank            
Account Holder: APFS
Account Number: ００１８０－１－７９１５
*Please write “Donations for Suraj’s family” on the form.

Yonsei University Associate Professor visits APFS

Yonsei University Associate Professor Seung-Mi Han, introduced to APFS by Professor Ichiro Watado of Meisei University, came to our office to speak with us as a part of her current survey.

Equivalent to Keio University in Japan, Yonsei University is known as one of Korea’s most popular universities.

The discussion centered on APFS consultations and activities as well as our work building relationships with local governments.

Professor Han showed particular interest in the creation of a movement in Japan for normalizing non-regular migrants.

We have the good fortune of welcoming many researchers and students at APFS’s office.　We hope to see more and more people showing an interest as we continue our work into the future.

Visitations at the Ibaraki detention center

Today, we attended to some visitation appointments and applications for temporary release at the Immigration Bureau in Ibaraki.

We visited three people: Iranian “A”-san, Pakistani “M”-san, and Nigerian “G”-san. All three have been kept in detention for a long time (6+ months). “M”-san has lost roughly 17 kilos since entering and we noticed a dramatic increase in gray hairs. “M”-san, who also has a Japanese spouse and children, talked about how difficult it has been to say goodbye to the children each time they visit.

“A”-san said, while pointing to scar on his forehead, that a few days ago, “I did something pretty stupid and started banging my head on the wall."

The psychological impact of these indefinite detentions is very scary. Just a few months ago a Brazilian committed suicide in this very facility. Apparently on the day of the suicide the Brazilian was talking to his family on the phone and had asked his child, "Where would you like to go when I get my temporary release?" And yet that night he committed suicide (“A”-san shared this story.)

Is it necessary to push these men and women into such a mental state? We cannot help but feel angry.

Attended in the 60th anniversary of Yuuza Oyama arcade encouragement Union

I am Kato, representative of APFS. Thank you for always looking at this blog.

I attended in the the 60th anniversary of Yuuza Oyama arcade encouragement Union on May 18th, Tuesday night. APFS has realized that we aims at being a community-based NGO and participated in the arcade since 2009.
It was a great ceremony that a ward headman of Itabasiku, local members of the House of Representatives and other prominent people got together.

We looked back the history of these six decades and confirmed to make this arcade more revitalized.
The average of age was perhaps forty five years old so, I was overwhelmingly younger among them.
The arcade owners kindly told me when and what kind of events are going on and what is necessary for being acquainted with the community.

Then, we are probably able to open branches in summer festival (so-called “Bonodori”), the arcade holds, this year too.
The “Asian” color will be added into the arcade.
APFS may be going to open Burmese and Pilipino food branches.

People who wear Yukata will be sent out so that it will be very suitable if you who want to see the fascinating arcade.
The summer festival will be on July 31st and August 1st.
We will let you know on this web cite if the details are decided.

The bowling game and drinking party

This is Igarashi, one of volunteers.

On May 30th, Sunday, the bowling game and drinking party were held at the Rosa Kaikan, Ikebukuro. Twenty four people of APFS stuffs, volunteers and foreign members and their families got together and it became a day, full of their smiles.

In the bowling game, we were divided depend on the lanes and the foreigners, especially, seemed to be really excited to play the games. It was said that the winners will be recognized and given a gift in the drinking party so that everyone were excited. The higher rank was a fight between the Pilipino and Japanese.

Also, nine teen of them participated in the drinking party and were greatly excited as well as the bowling game.
It was really impressive that APFS stuffs, volunteers and foreigners and their families equally drunk, ate, sang and communicated together well. In the Karaoke, foreign members sang Japanese songs and Japanese sang English songs. Such figures told me that this gathering also meant significant time as a cultural exchange.

In fact, I had been a little bit anxious about foreign members before I went there. It was because I was captured by the imagines that foreigners in Japan must be sad and poor.
However, it was overthrown when I met them at the bowling game. I faced their smile and positive mind, and received so much power from them rather than giving them my power. Then, this time I realized that my task for the future is to have more interests about them and think about them more deeply

I think everyone got closed more than before threw this bowling game and drinking party.
I, also, hope that we can grow together by understanding this meeting as a good opportunity.

Please send in your letters of protest!!

Are you concerned over the mysterious death of Abubakar Awudu Suraj? If so, APFS wants you to write and send your own letter of protest to Japan’s Ministry of Justice!

You can see a translation of our protest statement here.
Please tell the Ministry of Justice what you think, by following the link below:

https://www.moj.go.jp/mojmail/kouhouinput.php
Or send a fax to: 03-3592-7393

To the right, we have posted a letter that Suraj wrote, illustrated, and sent to his while he was still in detention. His gentle nature truly shines through (translation below)…
Thank you for taking action!

Translation of Suraj’s letter:

How are you? I’m sorry I haven’t written lately. Thank you for all that you’ve done. Let’s stick through this together. Your voice sounded strange when we last talked, and I wonder if it’s because you’ve been thinking so much and worrying. However, it seems to have gotten better, so I feel a bit relieved. It’s not good for your body if you’re always worrying, so every now and then—when you feel tired—it’s ok to take a break. There’s nothing more precious than life, so take care of yourself and be happy. We’ll be together forever. It has been getting colder lately so please take care of yourself and don’t catch a cold.


Awudu Suraj
12/04/2009

Rally & Formal Statement for Investigation into Suraj’s Death

On the morning of April 12th, APFS participated in a demonstration to appeal for further investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of Abubakar Awudu Suraj – which happened on March 22nd during a deportation flight.

In the afternoon, two APFS staff members, Suraj’s widow, and a lawyer went to the Chiba Prefectural Police Department and the Chiba District Public Prosecutor’s Office, both of which exercise jurisdiction over the Narita Airport Police, to file petitions for a proper investigation into the incident.

At the Chiba Prefectural Police Department, the Deputy Inspector from the First Investigation Division met with us and informed us as follows.

・This case is currently being investigated by the Narita Airport Police under the direction and cooperation of the Chiba Prefectural Police Department and the District Public Prosecutor’s Office. They do plan to press charges.
・The 10 Immigration officials who had accompanied Suraj on his deportation flight are undergoing questioning by police.
・There is a video of the deportation, and it is currently being reviewed.
・Examination of the deceased’s body is underway, including analysis of blood and internal organs.

APFS spoke with two trial case managers at the Chiba District Public Prosecutor’s Office. However, further details on the case were not available since the detective in charge was not in, and information had not yet been sent to the prosecutors. Therefore, we simply handed in our formal statement demanding proper investigation.

Afterwards we held a press conference, where we explained the case and the day’s actions to members of the media.

What is particularly upsetting about this case is the fact that no explanation whatsoever has been provided to Suraj’s widow and surviving family. If we weren’t engaging the authorities as we have been, Suraj’s widow would not have received any word of what is happening regarding the investigation.

Moreover, it’s unacceptable that Suraj’s widow, at a time of mourning and grief, should have to be taking part in these actions and chase after answers. In fact, she has said that she is losing sleep at night wondering whether the police are even capable of carrying out a proper investigation into the actions of Immigration officials considering that both share a “common bond” as government employees.

PERSONNEL TRAINING: Organizational Development II – Risk Management

We held our regular personnel training for APFS staff and volunteers.
This time’s topic was “Organizational Developmetn II – Risk Management”, so we invited Ms. Mika Nakahara, the representative of the NPO called Risk Management Office.

Ms. Nakahara told us about the risks of NPOs, and the merits-demerits faced by them.


What’s more, since this year APFS is aiming to aquire legal status as an NPO, we were warned about possible problems, such as volunteer insurance or protection and management of personal data.


By having supported countless foreign residents, we managed to form a trustful relationship with most of them. At the training, we were confirmed that we have to manage risks carefully in the future too, to be able to support many more people in various ways,


Finnally, we would like to express our gratitude to Ms. Nakahara for providing us with such a good chance for learning!


* Our personnal training is sponsored by the Daiwa SRI Fund.

Share Meeting “Multicultural Society as Seen by Foreign Residents”

At our share meetings, foreign residents have a chance to share their thoughts and feelings about their problems concerning life in Japan.



This was the 6th time in FY2009, and we chose the very broad topic of “Multicultural Society as Seen by Foreign Residents”, but still we manged to share our experiences and thoughts in a very relaxed atmosphere as always.


Since most of this time’s participants were from the Philippines, first we talked about the cultural differences between the Philippines and Japan.


Participants mentioned different aspects of faith, television programmes, speech patterns or other ways of showing respect and finally care homes as a form of elderly life.


Additionally, the topic of prejudice (stereotyping) by Japanese towards foreign residents was also raised.


For example, if some finds a bag of trash violating selective guidelines, in many cases foreign residents are blamed “because they are foreigners”. Occasionally, such untracable trash is intentionally brought in front of their homes.


To eliminate such prejudice against foreigners, we have to focus on communitation with Japanese nationals at work or through participation to community events. According to some opinions, it is also important to let others know that there are also foreign residents like us.


However, the participants basically believe in the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”, so some of them even said “If you live in Japan, you should adapt to the Japanese. If you cannot take it, maybe you had better go home to the Philippines.”


At first these words may seem harsh, but we must not forget that it is the opinion of people who have been living in Japan for more than ten years successfully. At this share meeting, we felt lucky to hear such meaningful words.




* We receive grants from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for our share meetings.

Volunteers Desperately WANTED!!!

We are constantly looking for new volunteers who would help us with our activities!



We welcome anyone who is interested in supporting foreign residents in Japan. We especially need people who can work with computers or come to our office in Oyama, Itabashi on a regular basis on weekdays. We also welcome students without any social experience, so please feel free to contact us if you are interested! We are confident that you can gain many things in our office you could experienece nowhere else!


If you come, you can participate in the following working processes:
・ addressing newsletters etc. to members
・ helping with events such as symposiums, parties etc.
・ translating various kinds of documents
・ administrative work such as answering calls or data input
・ upgradiing our BLOG and homepage
・planning and carrying out outreach activities towards foreign communities


＜About translation＞

Since our activities target foreign residents, translation of a wide range of documents is always necessary.
Not only English, but translation of other languages such as Tagalog, Burmese, Chinese, Korean, Bengali etc. is also important. You may engage in voluntary translation even at home, so please let us know if you feel interested!


＜Emergency recruit＞

At the moment, we are building our database, so a large amount of data input is required. If you could come to the office at least once a week for a couple of hours on weekdays, please help us!


＜We also welcome volunteers with working experience!!!＞

We warmly welcome people who are/were already in epmoyment and would like to make use of their knowledge or experiences and skills at APFS. Specifically, we are looking for volunteers who could help us with PR activities such as web/grahpic design, editing, preparation of press releases, and maintenance of IT equipment, IT network construction etc. Since foreign resident support is seriously lacking in Japan, there are many-many tasks APFS has to acomplish. Please contribute to the globally developing civil society with your professional skill! We are waiting for you!

Monthly Daiwa SRI Funds Internal Training

We had a monthly training session targeted at our staff and volunteer members today. The topic of the training was “ Financial Reporting for Authorised NPOs”. We had Mr. Oichi, certified tax accountant, from Venture Shien Zeiritsuhoujin as a guest lecturer this time.
APFS has been preparing to become an authorised NPO since last year. The experienced tax accountant, in today’s training session, explained to us what financial reports are required for an authorised NPO.
We do produce financial report regularly but we are not accounting or tax experts. Hence, today’s training was very helpful for us since we could ask many questions to the lecturer that relates to our daily operations.
Thank you Oichi sensei!

*We receive financial support from “Daiwa SRI fund”.

Special Permission for 22 Families. Emergency Meeting & New Years Party

Following the training for our staff members, we had a briefing session for our members demanding special permission to stay in Japan (zaitoku) to the Japanese government. “100 days action” is the campaign that APFS conducted last year for 17 families that are in need of zaitoku. On top of these 17 families we now have 5 more families to support.

When the guideline pertaining to special permission to stay in Japan was revised last July, we anticipated that the change will bring positive concequences to our members. In reality, however, the circumstances surrounding our members are still tough and some of our members have been re-detained by Immigration authorities after the revision of the guideline.

We say we are facing predicament, but it is also true that some of our members finally and eventually obtained the permission in December last year and January this year. We still have lots of things to do for other members and we have no time being depressed! In the breifing session we had, our members who obtained zaitoku lately made speech and inspired our other members. May all our members get zaitoku following these jubilant families!

Happy New Year to Everyone!

 Already more than ten days have passed since New Year’s Eve… We are sending our New Year’s greetings to everyone!

 Sorry for being so late with the updates. We hope that we may expect your support this year too!

 As soon as January 7th, one undocumented Filipino family under our support managed to receive Special Permit for Residence♪

 We are glad to have such good news in this season. At the same time, other undocumented families are facing detention or deportation. Building on these good news, we would like to continue our fight this year! We need your help too!