Myanmar asylum-seeker gratified, vexed by minister's sudden reversal
By TAKUYA ASAKURA
The Japan Times: Feb. 28, 2002
His three-year court struggle for refugee status was soon to be over when the man from Myanmar received an unexpected letter from the justice minister last week. It left him with mixed feelings.
In the letter dated Feb. 20, the Justice Ministry, in a rare move, revoked its 1998 decision to reject his application for refugee status, it was learned Tuesday.
The ministry is expected to soon grant the 29-year-old Myanmar man refugee status, effectively freeing him from the fear -- for the first time since arriving in Japan nearly four years ago -- of being sent back to the military junta-ruled Southeast Asian nation. His name is being withheld in case he does not receive the status.
The plaintiff, while gratified by the reversal, was also exasperated. "What was the three-year court battle and almost nearly one year in detention all about?" he asked. The man, who now heads an association of his compatriots in Japan and resides in Tokyo, was detained for invalid documents upon his arrival at Narita airport in March 1998. He soon applied for refugee status, claiming he was an activist against the military junta and fled Myanmar after his colleagues were arrested for their democracy movement activities.
But the Justice Ministry rejected his claim in June that year and also dismissed his appeal in October. He filed a suit with the Tokyo District Court demanding nullification of the ministry's decision.
"I wanted to prove in court whether the Japanese government was right or wrong," he said. "I wish the Japanese government could have understood me much earlier so that I would not have had to spend so much money, time and energy."
It was almost a year after his arrival when he was released from detention, after his lawyers had filed requests five times for his temporary release. A Justice Ministry official said the ministry decided to reverse its decision after hearing the plaintiff's testimony in court last November.
"(The decision) happened to come right before the end of the trial as a result," the official said.
Shogo Watanabe, who heads the team of lawyers for the plaintiff, said he believes the ministry's decision was made in an attempt to avoid a court ruling critical of its refugee recognition system, and to avoid such a precedent.
"How can the government send this letter without any explanation when it long argued over the credibility of the plaintiff's claims?" Watanabe asked.
The final court session in his case is scheduled for March 5, and the plaintiff plans to switch his demands to claim damages from the government for the suffering caused by his detention and rejecting his plea for nearly four years, according to Watanabe.
The case has attracted attention from experts interested in national policies on refugees as one of the few cases that directly challenge Japan's refugee-recognition system, often criticized as being too rigid for asylum-seekers.
During court proceedings last May, Allan Mackey, deputy head of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges, also testified on international standards for refugee-recognition procedures.