QUOTE
Filipino can stay but family must go
The Tokyo District Court on Friday allowed a 16-year-old Filipino girl to stay in Japan but said her parents, who entered Japan illegally 18 years ago, must leave the country with her younger siblings.
Nullifying a deportation order handed out by immigration authorities, Judge Hiroyuki Kanno said, "The eldest daughter has led her life just like Japanese do for a long time, and it will be very difficult for her to live in the Philippines, where the languages and customs are completely different."
Kanno ruled that the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau's decision to deport her parents and three younger siblings was legal, saying, "The children with little ability to make decisions should not live separated from their parents."
Edem Marinn Jomein, the eldest daughter, will be allowed to stay if she wants, the court said.
The family of six lives in Saku, Nagano Prefecture. The children were born in Japan after their parents entered the country on fake passports in spring 1986.
The immigration bureau issued the deportation order in May last year after discovering the parents' illegal status in 1999. Edem said she was worried about living alone.
The Japan Times: Nov. 6, 2004
The Tokyo District Court on Friday allowed a 16-year-old Filipino girl to stay in Japan but said her parents, who entered Japan illegally 18 years ago, must leave the country with her younger siblings.
Nullifying a deportation order handed out by immigration authorities, Judge Hiroyuki Kanno said, "The eldest daughter has led her life just like Japanese do for a long time, and it will be very difficult for her to live in the Philippines, where the languages and customs are completely different."
Kanno ruled that the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau's decision to deport her parents and three younger siblings was legal, saying, "The children with little ability to make decisions should not live separated from their parents."
Edem Marinn Jomein, the eldest daughter, will be allowed to stay if she wants, the court said.
The family of six lives in Saku, Nagano Prefecture. The children were born in Japan after their parents entered the country on fake passports in spring 1986.
The immigration bureau issued the deportation order in May last year after discovering the parents' illegal status in 1999. Edem said she was worried about living alone.
The Japan Times: Nov. 6, 2004
How can a 16 year old girl survive in Japan by herself? I'm talking about while doing nothing illegal or unethical. Basically Japan has kicked them all out.
I have been to both countries and I know being in the Philippines will be a complete shock to the children. They did break the law but what do you guys think about the whole thing?
At the present time the Filipino family is appealing the decision.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=319500
