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Re Urgent Action (r)



>Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 18:29:00 +0900
>From: =?ISO-2022-JP?B?GyRCRU9uNCEhPjQ4ZxsoQg==?= <QYN02403@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Urgent Action
>To: carol@xxxxxxx, kl@xxxxxxx, kyawkyaw@xxxxxxx, n-mohammed@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
>        tinkyi@xxxxxxx
>
>URGENT ACTION REQUEST
>
>ASYLUM DENIED FOR ACTIVIST; DEPORTATION ORDER ISSUED 
>
>15 June 1998
>
>On 12 June, the Ministry of Justice in Japan denied a Burmese student 
>activist's application for refugee status, and issued an order for 
>deportation. The activist, who had been detained at Narita Airport for 2 
>months, is now being held at another detention center.
>
>Z <his full name is not shown for security reasons>, a student activist from 
>Burma, arrived in Japan on 29 March. Shortly after arrival, he applied for 
>refugee status in Japan. However, the immigration authorities have kept him 
>in detention since his arrival, against international standards. On 12 June, 
>they notified him that his application for refugee status was denied, and 
>that a deportation order had been issued. 
>
>Early last month Z applied for provisional release, but no decision has been 
>made on the application. Now that the deportation order has been issued, he 
>could be detained indefinitely.
>
>Z was one of the central figures in the pro-democracy demonstrations in 
>Rangoon in  December 1996, as well as one of the leaders of an ethnic 
>Rohingya pro-democracy organization. He was twice arrested by military 
>authorities in Burma due to his participation in pro-democracy activities. 
>
>Please write to the Japanese immigration authorities! Please ask them to 
>immediatel release Z, and to favorably review his application for refugee 
>status. 
>
>A sample letter follows.
>
>Send urgent faxes and letters to:
>Mr. Kokichi Shimoinaba, Minister of Justice
>1-1-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku
>Tokyo, JAPAN
>FAX: +813-3593-3009
>
>Lawyers' Group for Burmese Asylum Seekers / People's Forum on Burma
>******************************************
>
>SAMPLE LETTER
>                                                      Date    /   /   
>ATTN: Mr. Kokichi Shimoinaba, Minister of Justice
>1-1-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku
>Tokyo, JAPAN
>FAX: +813-3593-3009
>
>Dear Mr. Shimoinaba,
>I am writing with regard to Z, a Burmese (Myanmarese) pro-democracy activist 
>who arrived at Narita on 29 March and applied for refugee status on 2 April. 
>His application was denied on 12 June, and he is now being held at the 
>immigration detention center at Ushiku, Ibaraki Pref.  
>
>As a pro-democracy activist and being of Rohingya ethnicity, and considering 
>his previous arrests by Burmese military authorities, it is clear that Z 
>would be in danger of persecution upon his deportation to Burma. 
>
>Japan, having ratified the Convention on the Status of Refugees, has an 
>international responsibility to offer protection to those who are in danger 
>of persecution in their own countries. It should also be noted that it is 
>against international standards to detain asylum-seekers.*
>
>I strongly urge you to favorably review Z's application for refugee status 
>and to release him immediately. It would be one step towards the fulfillment 
>of international responsibility. Thank you for your attention. 
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>*Cf. Art. 31, 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees; UNHCR Executive 
>Committee Conclusion No. 44; UNHCR Guidelines on Detention of 
>Asylum-Seekers.
>
>