On the morning of April 12th, APFS participated in a demonstration to appeal for further investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of Abubakar Awudu Suraj – which happened on March 22nd during a deportation flight.
In the afternoon, two APFS staff members, Suraj’s widow, and a lawyer went to the Chiba Prefectural Police Department and the Chiba District Public Prosecutor’s Office, both of which exercise jurisdiction over the Narita Airport Police, to file petitions for a proper investigation into the incident.
At the Chiba Prefectural Police Department, the Deputy Inspector from the First Investigation Division met with us and informed us as follows.
・This case is currently being investigated by the Narita Airport Police under the direction and cooperation of the Chiba Prefectural Police Department and the District Public Prosecutor’s Office. They do plan to press charges.
・The 10 Immigration officials who had accompanied Suraj on his deportation flight are undergoing questioning by police.
・There is a video of the deportation, and it is currently being reviewed.
・Examination of the deceased’s body is underway, including analysis of blood and internal organs.
APFS spoke with two trial case managers at the Chiba District Public Prosecutor’s Office. However, further details on the case were not available since the detective in charge was not in, and information had not yet been sent to the prosecutors. Therefore, we simply handed in our formal statement demanding proper investigation.
Afterwards we held a press conference, where we explained the case and the day’s actions to members of the media.
What is particularly upsetting about this case is the fact that no explanation whatsoever has been provided to Suraj’s widow and surviving family. If we weren’t engaging the authorities as we have been, Suraj’s widow would not have received any word of what is happening regarding the investigation.
Moreover, it’s unacceptable that Suraj’s widow, at a time of mourning and grief, should have to be taking part in these actions and chase after answers. In fact, she has said that she is losing sleep at night wondering whether the police are even capable of carrying out a proper investigation into the actions of Immigration officials considering that both share a “common bond” as government employees.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
PERSONNEL TRAINING: Organizational Development II – Risk Management
We held our regular personnel training for APFS staff and volunteers.
This time’s topic was “Organizational Developmetn II – Risk Management”, so we invited Ms. Mika Nakahara, the representative of the NPO called Risk Management Office.
Ms. Nakahara told us about the risks of NPOs, and the merits-demerits faced by them.
What’s more, since this year APFS is aiming to aquire legal status as an NPO, we were warned about possible problems, such as volunteer insurance or protection and management of personal data.
By having supported countless foreign residents, we managed to form a trustful relationship with most of them. At the training, we were confirmed that we have to manage risks carefully in the future too, to be able to support many more people in various ways,
Finnally, we would like to express our gratitude to Ms. Nakahara for providing us with such a good chance for learning!
* Our personnal training is sponsored by the Daiwa SRI Fund.
This time’s topic was “Organizational Developmetn II – Risk Management”, so we invited Ms. Mika Nakahara, the representative of the NPO called Risk Management Office.
What’s more, since this year APFS is aiming to aquire legal status as an NPO, we were warned about possible problems, such as volunteer insurance or protection and management of personal data.
By having supported countless foreign residents, we managed to form a trustful relationship with most of them. At the training, we were confirmed that we have to manage risks carefully in the future too, to be able to support many more people in various ways,
Finnally, we would like to express our gratitude to Ms. Nakahara for providing us with such a good chance for learning!
* Our personnal training is sponsored by the Daiwa SRI Fund.
Share Meeting “Multicultural Society as Seen by Foreign Residents”
At our share meetings, foreign residents have a chance to share their thoughts and feelings about their problems concerning life in Japan.
This was the 6th time in FY2009, and we chose the very broad topic of “Multicultural Society as Seen by Foreign Residents”, but still we manged to share our experiences and thoughts in a very relaxed atmosphere as always.
Since most of this time’s participants were from the Philippines, first we talked about the cultural differences between the Philippines and Japan.
Participants mentioned different aspects of faith, television programmes, speech patterns or other ways of showing respect and finally care homes as a form of elderly life.
Additionally, the topic of prejudice (stereotyping) by Japanese towards foreign residents was also raised.
For example, if some finds a bag of trash violating selective guidelines, in many cases foreign residents are blamed “because they are foreigners”. Occasionally, such untracable trash is intentionally brought in front of their homes.
To eliminate such prejudice against foreigners, we have to focus on communitation with Japanese nationals at work or through participation to community events. According to some opinions, it is also important to let others know that there are also foreign residents like us.
However, the participants basically believe in the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”, so some of them even said “If you live in Japan, you should adapt to the Japanese. If you cannot take it, maybe you had better go home to the Philippines.”
At first these words may seem harsh, but we must not forget that it is the opinion of people who have been living in Japan for more than ten years successfully. At this share meeting, we felt lucky to hear such meaningful words.
* We receive grants from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for our share meetings.
This was the 6th time in FY2009, and we chose the very broad topic of “Multicultural Society as Seen by Foreign Residents”, but still we manged to share our experiences and thoughts in a very relaxed atmosphere as always.
Since most of this time’s participants were from the Philippines, first we talked about the cultural differences between the Philippines and Japan.
Participants mentioned different aspects of faith, television programmes, speech patterns or other ways of showing respect and finally care homes as a form of elderly life.
Additionally, the topic of prejudice (stereotyping) by Japanese towards foreign residents was also raised.
For example, if some finds a bag of trash violating selective guidelines, in many cases foreign residents are blamed “because they are foreigners”. Occasionally, such untracable trash is intentionally brought in front of their homes.
To eliminate such prejudice against foreigners, we have to focus on communitation with Japanese nationals at work or through participation to community events. According to some opinions, it is also important to let others know that there are also foreign residents like us.
However, the participants basically believe in the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”, so some of them even said “If you live in Japan, you should adapt to the Japanese. If you cannot take it, maybe you had better go home to the Philippines.”
At first these words may seem harsh, but we must not forget that it is the opinion of people who have been living in Japan for more than ten years successfully. At this share meeting, we felt lucky to hear such meaningful words.
* We receive grants from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for our share meetings.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Volunteers Desperately WANTED!!!
We are constantly looking for new volunteers who would help us with our activities!
We welcome anyone who is interested in supporting foreign residents in Japan. We especially need people who can work with computers or come to our office in Oyama, Itabashi on a regular basis on weekdays. We also welcome students without any social experience, so please feel free to contact us if you are interested! We are confident that you can gain many things in our office you could experienece nowhere else!
If you come, you can participate in the following working processes:
・ addressing newsletters etc. to members
・ helping with events such as symposiums, parties etc.
・ translating various kinds of documents
・ administrative work such as answering calls or data input
・ upgradiing our BLOG and homepage
・planning and carrying out outreach activities towards foreign communities
＜About translation＞
Since our activities target foreign residents, translation of a wide range of documents is always necessary.
Not only English, but translation of other languages such as Tagalog, Burmese, Chinese, Korean, Bengali etc. is also important. You may engage in voluntary translation even at home, so please let us know if you feel interested!
＜Emergency recruit＞
At the moment, we are building our database, so a large amount of data input is required. If you could come to the office at least once a week for a couple of hours on weekdays, please help us!
＜We also welcome volunteers with working experience!!!＞
We warmly welcome people who are/were already in epmoyment and would like to make use of their knowledge or experiences and skills at APFS. Specifically, we are looking for volunteers who could help us with PR activities such as web/grahpic design, editing, preparation of press releases, and maintenance of IT equipment, IT network construction etc. Since foreign resident support is seriously lacking in Japan, there are many-many tasks APFS has to acomplish. Please contribute to the globally developing civil society with your professional skill! We are waiting for you!
We welcome anyone who is interested in supporting foreign residents in Japan. We especially need people who can work with computers or come to our office in Oyama, Itabashi on a regular basis on weekdays. We also welcome students without any social experience, so please feel free to contact us if you are interested! We are confident that you can gain many things in our office you could experienece nowhere else!
If you come, you can participate in the following working processes:
・ addressing newsletters etc. to members
・ helping with events such as symposiums, parties etc.
・ translating various kinds of documents
・ administrative work such as answering calls or data input
・ upgradiing our BLOG and homepage
・planning and carrying out outreach activities towards foreign communities
＜About translation＞
Since our activities target foreign residents, translation of a wide range of documents is always necessary.
Not only English, but translation of other languages such as Tagalog, Burmese, Chinese, Korean, Bengali etc. is also important. You may engage in voluntary translation even at home, so please let us know if you feel interested!
＜Emergency recruit＞
At the moment, we are building our database, so a large amount of data input is required. If you could come to the office at least once a week for a couple of hours on weekdays, please help us!
＜We also welcome volunteers with working experience!!!＞
We warmly welcome people who are/were already in epmoyment and would like to make use of their knowledge or experiences and skills at APFS. Specifically, we are looking for volunteers who could help us with PR activities such as web/grahpic design, editing, preparation of press releases, and maintenance of IT equipment, IT network construction etc. Since foreign resident support is seriously lacking in Japan, there are many-many tasks APFS has to acomplish. Please contribute to the globally developing civil society with your professional skill! We are waiting for you!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Monthly Daiwa SRI Funds Internal Training
We had a monthly training session targeted at our staff and volunteer members today. The topic of the training was “ Financial Reporting for Authorised NPOs”. We had Mr. Oichi, certified tax accountant, from Venture Shien Zeiritsuhoujin as a guest lecturer this time.
APFS has been preparing to become an authorised NPO since last year. The experienced tax accountant, in today’s training session, explained to us what financial reports are required for an authorised NPO.
We do produce financial report regularly but we are not accounting or tax experts. Hence, today’s training was very helpful for us since we could ask many questions to the lecturer that relates to our daily operations.
Thank you Oichi sensei!
*We receive financial support from “Daiwa SRI fund”.
APFS has been preparing to become an authorised NPO since last year. The experienced tax accountant, in today’s training session, explained to us what financial reports are required for an authorised NPO.
We do produce financial report regularly but we are not accounting or tax experts. Hence, today’s training was very helpful for us since we could ask many questions to the lecturer that relates to our daily operations.
Thank you Oichi sensei!
*We receive financial support from “Daiwa SRI fund”.
Special Permission for 22 Families. Emergency Meeting & New Years Party
Following the training for our staff members, we had a briefing session for our members demanding special permission to stay in Japan (zaitoku) to the Japanese government. “100 days action” is the campaign that APFS conducted last year for 17 families that are in need of zaitoku. On top of these 17 families we now have 5 more families to support.
When the guideline pertaining to special permission to stay in Japan was revised last July, we anticipated that the change will bring positive concequences to our members. In reality, however, the circumstances surrounding our members are still tough and some of our members have been re-detained by Immigration authorities after the revision of the guideline.
When the guideline pertaining to special permission to stay in Japan was revised last July, we anticipated that the change will bring positive concequences to our members. In reality, however, the circumstances surrounding our members are still tough and some of our members have been re-detained by Immigration authorities after the revision of the guideline.
We say we are facing predicament, but it is also true that some of our members finally and eventually obtained the permission in December last year and January this year. We still have lots of things to do for other members and we have no time being depressed! In the breifing session we had, our members who obtained zaitoku lately made speech and inspired our other members. May all our members get zaitoku following these jubilant families!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Happy New Year to Everyone!
Already more than ten days have passed since New Year’s Eve… We are sending our New Year’s greetings to everyone!
Sorry for being so late with the updates. We hope that we may expect your support this year too!
As soon as January 7th, one undocumented Filipino family under our support managed to receive Special Permit for Residence♪
We are glad to have such good news in this season. At the same time, other undocumented families are facing detention or deportation. Building on these good news, we would like to continue our fight this year! We need your help too!
Sorry for being so late with the updates. We hope that we may expect your support this year too!
As soon as January 7th, one undocumented Filipino family under our support managed to receive Special Permit for Residence♪
We are glad to have such good news in this season. At the same time, other undocumented families are facing detention or deportation. Building on these good news, we would like to continue our fight this year! We need your help too!
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