Nepalese citizens are falsely applying for refugee status in Japan. According to the Justice Ministry, immigrants from as many as 45 countries have applied for asylum in Japan.
According to ministry officials, in 2013, 544 Nepalese applied for refugee status, the second largest number behind Turkish applicants, who totaled 658.
The number of Nepalese applicants has shot up since 2010.
Under the change in the law made four years ago, applicants with an approved visa can start working six months after filing for refugee status.
Some who have applied in recent years do not face persecution if they return to their home country, but filed because the drawn-out process means they can work those years in Japan for higher wages than what interns and students are paid.
A Nepalese man in his mid-20s who works at a plastics factory in the Kanto region applied for refugee status last year. He admits he lied on his application because he was never persecuted back home.
He initially came to Japan to work as a farming intern, harvesting vegetables.
“I wanted to continue working in Japan after the end of my period of stay,” he said.
He began working at the plastics factory in spring 2014 and earns about 200,000 yen ($1,850) a month, more than double the 70,000 yen or so he was making as an intern.
Another Nepalese man who came to Japan as a farming intern has also applied for refugee status in order to remain in Japan to work.
“I plan to return to my country after saving up the money I make working,” he said.
At a language school in Fukuoka city, four Nepalese students stopped attending school this year. A school official investigated and discovered the students were living in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, and had applied for refugee status.
School officials believe the students applied in order to work in Japan.
Officials at the Immigration Bureau of the Justice Ministry have received various inquiries about such cases. Those accepting interns have called to report that an intern has left and apparently filed for refugee status. source: BadalNepal, December 05-
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