The free legal services offered by the Jesuit Social Center in Tokyo in the last year has proven to be a boon to foreign migrants. The centre already has 35 legal cases solved or awaiting resolution in its files.
“More than half of all the Catholics in Japan are of other nationalities. Anyone in contact with foreigners in Japan realises the complexity of the situations they face, their need to learn the Japanese language, and the legal barriers they encounter,” said Fr Ando Isamu SJ, who is on the centre’s staff.
Fr Ando said that the team wanted to provide radical solutions to key issues faced by foreigners in weak positions such as refugees, single mothers and others unable to resolve major problems on their own.
The idea to offer free legal consultation was inspired by articles published in the mass media in November 2010 about a new Section of Legal Assistance for Foreigners at the Tokyo Public Law Office. Following a visit by the head of the new Section who is a graduate of Sophia University and subsequent discussions regarding cooperation, the decision was made to offer free legal consultation at the centre once a month from January 2011.
Most of the clients are low-income part-time workers who are not familiar with Japanese work regulations and laws.
“Their legal status is so weak that they are afraid to press their rights. Many do not have work contracts and are always in fear of being fired by their employer. They do not know how to get legal counsel and access to a lawyer in Japan is difficult and expensive,” said Fr Ando.
One client is a Peruvian man who had a serious accident working in a glass factory. He had made a mistake in handling a big window glass for an office building and cut the tendons of his right wrist. The company paid for his expensive operation and rehabilitation treatment but because he could not fully recover, his possibilities to continue working as before were gloomy. On top of that he only had a three-month contract. After meeting with the lawyer he was much relieved. “I really appreciated your services because I didn’t know where to go. The lawyer advised me to continue informing him of new developments. Of course, I’m afraid of losing my job, but I know that I should not give up,” he said.
Another client is a young Filipina mother who had been abandoned with her child by her Japanese husband. “I’m very thankful to have been able to see a lawyer. I know better now what to do to raise my child and not to lose my legal status in Japan,” she said.
The centre’s lawyers are also helping a young Vietnamese man whose claim for refugee status has been rejected thrice by Japanese immigration because he has not been able to provide a Japanese translation of documents that prove his refugee status. His mother is in exile in Thailand because of her open opposition to the Hanoi government.
The free legal services are part of the increased services for migrants initiated by the centre four years ago. Until then, Fr Ando said, the Jesuit Social Center in Tokyo, established 30 years ago, had followed the usual pattern of Jesuit social centres worldwide with regard to publications, seminars, and information on social issues from the point of view of Catholic social teaching. However, when the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific identified migration as one of its key priorities, the centre decided to increased its activities for migrants and started AIA (Adachi International Academy), a school for migrant workers, staffed by volunteers. This was followed by the opening of a new migrant desk at the centre and then last January by the free legal service.
The increased activity for foreign migrants has had an unexpected benefit for the staff of the centre.
“Our ordinary contacts with their real lives have enriched the content of our work and have pulled us down to reality, by questioning the theoretical analysis Jesuit social centres tend to stress,” said Fr Ando.