The Japanese government plans to introduce a ”point system” to give preferential treatment such as residency permit extensions to foreigners with advanced expertise, Kyodo news reported quoting government sources as saying on Sunday.
The government plans to evaluate foreigners by awarding points for their qualifications, working careers, research achievements and other qualities and to give preferential treatment when their points exceed a certain level, the sources said.
The new system will form part of a reform of the residency permit system amid intensified international competition for engineers and other experts with advanced expertise.
A Justice Ministry panel will discuss the plan soon to begin mapping out the new system.
The government is expected to study simplifying procedures for residency permits and reentry, extending the maximum duration of residency permits from three years at present and shortening the period of residency required before securing the right to permanent residency from 10 years in principle.
The ministry will decide on the jobs to be included under the new system in consultation with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and other ministries and agencies.
A government panel compiled a report last month that included a study on the introduction of the new system.
Similar point systems have been introduced in Britain and Canada. In Britain, the system is applied to scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers and teachers, who can obtain the right of permanent residence in five years if they are recognised as experts with advanced expertise.
34 foreign trainees in Japan died in FY 2008 of suspected overwork
Thirty-four foreign trainees died in Japan in fiscal 2008 through March this year, up 13 from the previous year to hit a record high, a survey by a government-linked body promoting a training program showed Monday.
The leading causes of their deaths were brain and heart diseases, which claimed the lives of 16, while five were killed in accidents at work and four in traffic accidents. Supporters of foreign trainees said they suspect those who died from brain and heart disorders actually died from overwork. As of late 2007, about 177,000 foreigners have been staying in Japan under the government’s industrial training and technical internship program.
Shoichi Ibusuki, a lawyer supporting foreign trainees and interns, pointed out that many trainees have been forced to work long hours for lower wages and said he suspects they had died from overwork.
Ibusuki and other supporters submitted a written inquiry to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry on Monday, asking it to investigate the causes of the trainees’ deaths and to state how the ministry will deal with the issue.
A labor ministry official said it is not clear why those trainees had developed brain and heart diseases, but expressed willingness to examine their working hours and living conditions.
Following the submission of the inquiry, three Chinese trainees complained about their working conditions at a press conference held in Tokyo.
Ding Jianhui, 35, who came to Japan in September 2006 on the training program, said he had to work overtime for 100 to 130 hours a month at his job selling scrap metal and only received 110,000 yen per month after tax.
‘‘I lived in a container that was not equipped with a bathroom and was treated as cheap labor. My back is still numb,’’ said Ding, who claims he was suddenly dismissed from work late last year.
Jiang Xiangyi, 34, said although he had been told he would be engaging in a carpentry job before he came to Japan, his actual work was dismantling and removing asbestos, which can cause lung cancer.
Jiang said he sometimes worked 26 days a month but was only paid 60,000 yen after tax. ‘‘The type of work was different from what I heard and I didn’t know about the danger of asbestos. I was cheated,’’ he said.
Power harassment plaguing Japanese workplaces more than ever before
Power harassment, in which someone in a superior position takes advantage of their power to cause distress to others, is now rampant in the workplace in the form of bullying, pestering and persistent reprimands, amongst other behavior. It has even become a way for failing companies to drive employees to quit.
One out of every three people who consulted the Labor Standards Bureau in fiscal 2008 about being pressed to resign complained of emotional problems, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has found. Those citing harassment in the workplace as the cause of their emotional problems exceeded 30 percent, which was significantly higher than those who were affected emotionally by bankruptcy and other challenges. The statistics confirm that the large numbers of lay-offs that have resulted from the current economic slump have had major emotional impact on workers.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, of the consultations made by workers with prefectural labor bureaus in fiscal 2008, 22,433 cases were regarding “encouragement to resign,” while 32,242 cases were concerning “bullying and harassment.” Both figures were the highest they have ever been.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/
20090622p2a00m0na021000c.html
Lower House passes bill revising foreign residency rules
The Lower House passed bills Friday making it easier for the Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau to keep tabs on foreigners who have overstayed their visas as well as others residing legally in the country.
A new form of identification, called a “zairyu” (residence) card, will replace alien registration cards, with the information on them kept by the Justice Ministry.
Foreign residents will be listed on the Juki Net resident registry network, a computer network linking municipalities that contains demographic information of Japanese residents.
Visas, typically good for three years, will be extended to five. Also, foreign residents will no longer be required to obtain re-entry permits if they return to Japan within a year.
On the other hand, the punishments for failing to report one’s address and other personal information will become harsher. In order to curb fake marriages, the bills give the justice minister the authority to revoke the spousal visas of those who fail to conduct “activities spouses normally do” for six months. Special consideration would be given to spouses who live separately because of mitigating circumstances, including abuse.
Immigration revision set to be passed
Compromise paves way for state-issued foreigner cards
The ruling and opposition camps have revised a contentious set of immigration bills in a way that increases government scrutiny of both legal and illegal foreign residents while extending additional conveniences, according to a draft obtained Thursday by The Japan Times.
Legislators from the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc and the Democratic Party of Japan hammered out the bills to reach a balance on how the estimated 110,000 undocumented foreigners living in Japan should be tracked. Currently, municipalities issue alien registration cards and provide public services to foreigners, even if they know they are overstaying their visas.
The revised bills, expected to be passed Friday by the Lower House, will abolish the Alien Registration Act and revise the immigration control and resident registration laws with sweeping changes that put information on foreign residents completely in the hands of the central government.
Foreigners stage a sit-in outside Diet to protest immigration bills
About 20 foreign workers [including members of NUGW Tokyo Nambu] and their supporters staged a sit-in Tuesday in front of the Diet to demand that bills to revise the immigration law be scrapped.
The bills, now before the Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee, would put a greater burden on foreign workers and violate their rights, participants at the sit-in argued.
“The government says the immigration law revision would make administrative procedures more convenient for foreigners living in Japan legally, but the realities would be vice versa,” Catherine Campbell said in Japanese.
The revision would impose a fine of up to ¥200,000 on people who fail to notify the government of a change in address within 14 days, and their residency status could be revoked if they fail to report the change within 90 days.
Kunio Ozwaldo Hiramoto, 46, a second-generation Japanese-Brazilian from Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, said the purpose of the revision is to increase control over foreign workers. “I want the Japanese government to stop xenophobia and treat foreigners warmly,” he said.
Nova chief admits skimming funds
In April 2007, the Supreme Court ruled the way the company calculated its cancellation policies was illegal and ordered Nova Corp. to repay about ¥310,000 to a Tokyo man who received no refund when he canceled his contract.
Faced with mounting debts, Sahashi in July 2007 allegedly diverted nearly ¥320 million from an employment benefit fund to the affiliate’s account.
The money was then supposedly used to reimburse students who had canceled their contracts. Nova officially declared bankruptcy in October 2007 and much of its operation was taken over by Nagoya-based G.Communications.
Sahashi argued he had the employees’ welfare in mind when he used the funds to pay the cancellation fees.
“Use of the money is not a violation of the funds’ purpose. The defendant thought it was money in an account with his name to be used for the welfare of the employees,” Sahashi’s lawyers said in a statement to the court. “Unless the cancellation fees were paid, the company was facing bankruptcy. Because there were no other funds, the money was used to avoid this worst possible case, and to maintain a minimal (amount) of welfare for the employees.”
Sahashi faces not only a lawsuit over the diversion of the employee benefit funds but also a suit by former students seeking ¥16 million in damages.
An attempt by [NUGW Tokyo Nambu sister union] the Osaka-based General Union, which represents many ex-Nova employees, to get prosecutors to indict Sahashi for nonpayment of wages failed last year. But in March, after the union pushed the local labor bureau to get prosecutors to probe their decision, auditors for the prosecutor’s office ruled the initial decision not to charge Sahashi was unjust.
The union hopes Sahashi will be tried separately for nonpayment of wages to 5,000 dismissed employees.
Ex-Nova president pleads not guilty
According to the indictment, in July 2007, Sahashi conspired with a 50-year-old Nova executive in charge of finance to embezzle the reserve funds of a mutual aid organization for Nova Group employees chaired by Sahashi.
The money was transferred to a bank account of an affiliate company.
The prosecutors said that on the night before the transfer was made, Sahashi had convinced the executive, who was reluctant to take part in the scheme, that repaying the students was a necessity and urged him to spend as much money as possible.
The issue that dares not speak its name
In Japanese, “racial discrimination” is jinshu sabetsu. That is the established term used in official translations of international treaties (such as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, or CERD) that Japan has signed up to.
However, the Japanese media won’t couch the discussion in these terms. This was visible during the nationwide debate generated by the Otaru onsen case (1999-2005), where public bathhouses refused entry to customers because they didn’t “look Japanese.” If you read the oodles of non-tabloid articles on this case, you’ll see the debate was conducted in milder, misleading language.
For example, it was rendered in terms of gaikokujin sabetsu (discrimination against foreigners). But that’s not the same thing. The people being discriminated against were not all foreign (ahem).
Or else it was depicted as gaiken sabetsu (discrimination by physical appearance). But that’s not “race,” either. Nor is “physical appearance” specifically covered by the CERD.
This term particularly derails the debate. It actually generates sympathy for people afraid of how others look.
Nova founder faces trial
The founder of Japan’s failed language school chain Nova went on trial on Monday charged with embezzlement over a scandal that left thousands of foreign teachers without jobs.
Nova, whose schools were once ubiquitous across Japanese cities, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007 after the government ordered it to halt part of its operations over insufficient refunds for students.
Founder Nozomu Sahashi was then accused of siphoning off 320 million yen (S$4.8 million) from a benefits fund set up through employee contributions.
At his first court hearing, Sahashi, 57, admitted to using the funds but only said: ‘I cannot make a judgement on whether it should be considered embezzlement.’
His defence lawyer, according to a report by Jiji Press, said Sahashi had ‘no intention of embezzling money’ and had spent more than 1.1 billion yen of his private money to run the company.
Before its collapse, Nova had an estimated 400,000 students and 6,000 employees, some 4,500 of them foreigners. Many teachers were young people looking to spend a few years in Japan.
Some foreign teachers even offered to give lessons for food after Nova’s collapse left them unemployed in one of the world’s most expensive countries.
Sahashi established Nova in 1981, tapping into a Japanese passion for language study by setting up schools with trademark blue-and-yellow signs across major cities.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_384477.html