On September 11 2001, the terrorist attack against the World Trade Center of New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC shook the world. Immediately, America's President George W. Bush claimed that Osama Bin Ladin was the mastermind behind the attack.
In Japan, at the conference of the Cabinet Security Affairs office held in mid September, Prime Minister Koizumi clearly expressed his intent to support Bush's anti-terrorism campaign. The chief of the Security Bureau of the National Police Agency emphasized that “people from certain countries or associated with Islam” have to be investigated for terrorist activities. At that conference, the chief of the Immigration Bureau also stated that the Bureau would conduct intensive investigations of all Afghan nationals in Japan.
On September17, the Bureau issued a detention order for a group of Afghan asylum seekers. The asylum seekers belonged to an Afghanistan ethnic group, known as Hazara. The detention was an effort to obtain answers as to whether any members of the detained group actually know Osama bin Ladin, and to discern the level of sophistication of the Al-Qaeda technology.
In early morning on October 3, police wearing bulletproof jackets and carrying guns detained nine Afghan asylum-seekers and held them in the immigration center. However, this detention breaches Article 31 of the Refugees Convention because the Convention prohibits a state party from imposing excessive restrictions on movement of refugees. Moreover, such a detention exceeds the boundaries of the UNHCR guideline as well as the Immigration Bureaus own customs.
The Hazara group was detained based on concerns they may be involved with the Taliban or Al-Qaeda, despite the fact that in Afghanistan the Taliban had targeted the Hazara for death. However, at present, the bureau is not disclosing a reason for the detention. In protest of this unlawful detention, the Defense Council for Afghan Asylum-Seekers was formed.
In mid-October, I visited the center in my capacity as a council member and met with Yafuya, one of the nine detained asylum-seekers. Mr. Yafuya, is a 25 year old Hazara. However, at a glance, I thought he was Japanese because the people of Hazara are Mongoloid and their features are quite similar to Japanese features.
The population of Afghanistan primarily consists of people of the Pashu ethnicity, but there are many other Afghanistan ethnic groups, such as the Hazara and its Shiah religion. The Hazara have suffered discrimination by the Taliban and Rabbani-Massoud who has been the leader of the northern Alliance for many years. Thousands of Hazara have reportedly been tortured, raped and murdered. Yafuya is no exception. At one time Yafuya was arrested and tortured by the Taliban for 20 days. It was not until he was left barely clinging to life that they saw fit to release him.
On October 9 2001, the Council filed a suit with the Tokyo District Court for cancellation and suspension of the detention order. In November, the court refused to cancel and suspend the order of detention on four of the nine, but agreed to cancellation and suspension for the remaining five asylum seekers.
Yafuya was in the group of asylum-seekers that was released from the center after being detained for one month. I could not keep from crying for joy. I invited Yafuya to my home where he told my family of his life of oppression in Afghanistan. I was shocked to hear how brutally the Hazara are treated in their country, while I was simultaneously impressed with Yafuya's undying patriotic spirit for Afghanistan.
In November, the group of nine's request for asylum was denied. An appeal of the decision was filed immediately with the Tokyo High Court. On December 18, the Court heard the appeal made by the Bureau and overturned the district court decision regarding the released four, which included Yafuya.
I was in a state of despair as I read the Bureau's notification of re-detention to Yafuya. Ironically, Yafuya consoled me, “Don't cry. I am a refugee and it is unjust that I am detained. But any day I will gain the understanding of Japanese. I never escape from anything. Because I'm fair.
”It was a bitter farewell. I was able to see first hand the cruelty of the refugee detention system. I was irritated with myself for having no way to prevent Yafuya's detention.
As of January 2000, about 20 Afghanistan are detained in the East Japan Immigration Center in Ibaraki Prefecture. Some of those detained are as young as 18 and 19 years of age. Some of them say, “The Taliban and Northern Alliance kills us at once, but Japan does it slowly. So the Taliban are better than Japan.
”The Council is now filling suits to suspend and cancel deportation of these nine people. In addition to that the Council is working to help approximately twenty other Afghanistan refugees through the procedures on deportation and application for refugee status.
As of January, the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan will be held in Tokyo. But what can they do for the refugees in their own land? What is genuine restoration of Afghanistan? I will never forget Yafuya's cries.
Editor's Note:On February 21 2002, the UNHCR expressed its concern regarding the detention of Afghan refugees by the Japanese government in its press release. It pointed out that the Executive committee of the High commissioner's Program takes the position that detention of refugees should normally be avoided. Japan is also a UNHCR member.
The Tokyo District Court suspended the detention and deportation order for seven Afghan refugees including aforementioned detained in March. However, the Immigration Bureau appealed the ruling, and in June, the Tokyo High Court canceled the suspension of detention order.
Despite this cruel ruling, by July, the Immigration Bureau had released all Afghan refugees detained in the East Japan Immigration Center.
As the UNHCR pointed out in its press release, the conditions in which the Afghans were detained were so cruel that some of them actually attempted suicide during detention. Even after their release, the Afghans fear of re-detention will continue since have not been granted refugee status.
Finally, on May 27, one old Afghan refugee put an end to his existence, which consisted of living in fear of the possibility of re-detention.