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Article

16 Feb 2023

Author:
Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan

Japan: Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan calls for abolition of technical training system and creation of new system for accepting foreign workers based on international human rights standards

"「技能実習制度及び特定技能制度の在り方に関する有識者会議」による移住連のヒアリング結果が公開されました"16 Feb 2023

[ Japanese-to-English translation: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre ]

On 18 January 2023, a hearing was held by the Expert Committee on the State of the Technical Training System and the Specific Skills System, the results of which are available on the website of the Immigration Service Agency of Japan.[...]

[...]

We, Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan, from the standpoint of seeking to safeguard the rights and dignity of migrants and refugees, and in light of the reality that Japan has already become a society of migrants, express the following opinions on the new system of receiving foreign workers.

  1. The technical training system, which contains structural human rights violations, should be abolished as soon as possible.
  2. A new system for receiving foreign workers should be established based on international human rights standards, including the dignity of workers and the prohibition of discrimination, in line with the reality that local communities and industries are in need of foreign workers. The perspective of human rights is also becoming extremely important in business activities. In doing so, it is essential that measures are taken to support the transition to the new system so that workers under the current system (technical training system and specified skills system) do not suffer any disadvantages.
  3. The new system for receiving foreign workers should, like the current system for professional and technical workers, allow them the freedom to change jobs and to bring their families with them, allow them to renew their period of stay and change their status of residence, and not prevent them from settling in the country.
  4. In the new system for receiving foreign workers, public employment placement should be carried out between government agencies with the sending country and HelloWork, etc., in order to eliminate the debt slavery of foreign workers. In addition, all agencies involved in job placement should not collect any fees or expenses, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from foreign workers.
  5. The state and local governments should provide all foreign workers with opportunities to learn Japanese and receive vocational training in order to improve their skills, guarantee their human rights and ensure the convenience of their social life.
  6. The state and local governments should provide all foreign workers with information necessary for life in Japan, including labour, social security and education, in a language they can understand, including their mother tongue, as far as possible
  7. In order to ensure that the rights of all foreign workers are guaranteed, a new public institution should be created with a consultation and problem-solving function. In doing so, it is necessary to actively recruit foreign nationals (including Japanese nationals with foreign roots) as employees of such institutions.
  8. A basic law should be enacted to provide the basis for a prosperous immigrant society where people can live, work and study together with a diverse range of foreign nationals, including foreign workers.
  9. In establishing a new system for receiving foreign workers, opportunities for regularisation ('amnesty') should be offered to those who do not have a status of residence under the current system.

[...]