On August 25, 2023, a rally was held in the Diet Members' Building to demand residence status for underage foreigners without visas.
On August 4, Minister of Justice Saito announced a policy of granting status of residence to "children born in Japan among those evading repatriation. However, the policy is very restrictive: 1) it is limited to "children born in Japan among those evading repatriation" (201 persons) and does not include children who came to Japan as children; 2) it excludes children who have not yet entered elementary school; 3) it excludes "former minors" who have grown up; and 4) it excludes children whose parents have entered Japan illegally, is excluded.
Ms. Morena, a Filipina, her daughter was born in Japan and studied with Japanese students in elementary, junior high, and high school in Japan. Her Japanese is very fluent and she does not speak Tagalog. However, she is now 18 years and 7 months old and is not included in the above list. She has excellent grades through high school, but she is not able to enroll in a university. In order to expand the status of residence to these children and others who can only speak Japanese and cannot return to their home countries, I would like to expand the above list and at the same time ask for a special permission for residence.