ID :
31436
Fri, 11/21/2008 - 14:03
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/31436
The shortlink copeid
Filipino girl asks gov`t to let her continue studying in Japan
TOKYO, Nov. 20 Kyodo - A Filipino girl and her parents submitted petitions to the government Thursday seeking special permission for the family to acquire resident status so that the 13-year-old girl, who was born and raised in Japan and cannot speak Tagalog, the Philippine language, will be able to continue studying in Japan.
''Leaving Japan, the country where I was born and raised, is not something I could ever imagine,'' Noriko Calderon said, wiping her tears with a handkerchief, at a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday afternoon held after the family submitted the petitions to the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Should Calderon be deported to the Philippines, she will have to start over the elementary school curriculum since she does not understand Tagalog, according to Shogo Watanabe, a lawyer representing the family.
''That would destroy her self-confidence and raise a serious humanitarian
concern,'' he said.
Calderon, who now goes to a junior high school run by the city of Warabi,
Saitama Prefecture, said she had believed that she was Japanese until her
38-year-old mother, Sarah, was arrested in July 2006 for staying without a visa
and the family was ordered to leave Japan.
Although the family filed a lawsuit in December 2006 demanding that the
deportation order be rescinded, the demand was rejected and they are currently
on a provisional release status.
Her parents ''are keenly aware of their responsibility for their violating laws
and staying illegally,'' Watanabe said. ''Yet we are seeking public
understanding of their situation.''
Calderon's father, Arlan, 36, came to Japan in May 1993, a year after her
mother moved to Japan. Both of them entered the country on a different person's
passport.
Their fate will be determined next Thursday as immigration authorities will
decide whether to take them into custody for deportation, extend their
temporary permission to stay, or issue them with the special permission for
residence as requested.
Watanabe said it is likely that the government will extend their present status
to have some more time to examine the case.
According to Watanabe, there is a possibility that Calderon alone may be
allowed to stay in Japan, citing the case of an Iranian woman who was able to
gain such special permission last year alone among her four family members to
go to a junior college.
Given that Calderon is still at junior high school and needs guardians,
however, Watanabe stressed that her parents should also be allowed to stay.
Calderon said, ''I would like to continue staying in Japan and open a dance
school with my best friend from school and become a dance instructor in the
future.''
Along with their own petition, the family also submitted to the government a
petition prepared by nine friends of Noriko, as well as a list of signatures
collected from more than 2,300 people since earlier this month, according to
Watanabe.
==Kyodo
''Leaving Japan, the country where I was born and raised, is not something I could ever imagine,'' Noriko Calderon said, wiping her tears with a handkerchief, at a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday afternoon held after the family submitted the petitions to the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Should Calderon be deported to the Philippines, she will have to start over the elementary school curriculum since she does not understand Tagalog, according to Shogo Watanabe, a lawyer representing the family.
''That would destroy her self-confidence and raise a serious humanitarian
concern,'' he said.
Calderon, who now goes to a junior high school run by the city of Warabi,
Saitama Prefecture, said she had believed that she was Japanese until her
38-year-old mother, Sarah, was arrested in July 2006 for staying without a visa
and the family was ordered to leave Japan.
Although the family filed a lawsuit in December 2006 demanding that the
deportation order be rescinded, the demand was rejected and they are currently
on a provisional release status.
Her parents ''are keenly aware of their responsibility for their violating laws
and staying illegally,'' Watanabe said. ''Yet we are seeking public
understanding of their situation.''
Calderon's father, Arlan, 36, came to Japan in May 1993, a year after her
mother moved to Japan. Both of them entered the country on a different person's
passport.
Their fate will be determined next Thursday as immigration authorities will
decide whether to take them into custody for deportation, extend their
temporary permission to stay, or issue them with the special permission for
residence as requested.
Watanabe said it is likely that the government will extend their present status
to have some more time to examine the case.
According to Watanabe, there is a possibility that Calderon alone may be
allowed to stay in Japan, citing the case of an Iranian woman who was able to
gain such special permission last year alone among her four family members to
go to a junior college.
Given that Calderon is still at junior high school and needs guardians,
however, Watanabe stressed that her parents should also be allowed to stay.
Calderon said, ''I would like to continue staying in Japan and open a dance
school with my best friend from school and become a dance instructor in the
future.''
Along with their own petition, the family also submitted to the government a
petition prepared by nine friends of Noriko, as well as a list of signatures
collected from more than 2,300 people since earlier this month, according to
Watanabe.
==Kyodo
