Thursday 13 May 2010

Japanese Immigration Centre Hunger Strike

Around 60 detainees at the East Japan Immigration Control Centre in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, have been on hunger strike since Monday according to Bond, a Tokyo-based group supporting foreign workers in Japan. The detainees are demanding the detention period be cut to a maximum of six months, that bail be cut from ¥800,000 (£5860) to no more than ¥200,000 (£1460) and that nobody under 18 be detained.

Amongst those taking part in the protests are Kurdish refugees, Sri Lankans, Ugandans, Chinese, Pakistanis and Brazilians. More than half of the 380 or so detainees in the Ushiku detention centre have been there for more than 6 months in what are described by the Bond spokesperson as awful living conditions with limited medical care. Last year 2 refugees held in the centre committed suicide.

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