Urgent Action Request

[QYN02403@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

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.