A shocking film called, “Ushiku” floored me

A shocking film floored me.

I saw a documentary film called, Ushiku that portrays an actual immigration center in Ushiku City, Japan.

Today, many people from abroad who seek asylum in Japan are being held in the immigration center indefinitely.

It means that they had not been certified as refugees by the Japanese government, and they will be deported to their countries although they are in danger of being persecuted in their countries.

Unbelievably, they always suffer inhumane treatment in the immigration center.

This documentary film was the secretary’s record of the internal reality of Ushiku.

As a member of the United Nations, Japan states that it will accept refugees.

However, refugee recognition almost never occurs in Japan, and that is the true intention of our government.

I think it is shameful.

“Diversity” is required in modern Japanese society, but the problems associated with accepting refugees don’t get our attention, or they go unheard.

I think that accepting refugees definitely results in an increase in diversity. 

I often heard that the increase in the number of accepted refugees will lead to increase in crime.

I think it is wrong.

We Japanese shouldn’t regard refugees as potential criminals.

Such prejudice generates racial discrimination.

In the film, images from a hidden camera in a visiting room and telephone voices revealed the actual situations of the immigration center.

The inmates were confined in cages like criminals, and they experienced violence or verbal abuse.

Medical care was neglect. Their minds and bodies were broken, and there were deaths from suicide, illness, or starvation for those on hunger strikes.

That was the reality of Japan in the 21st century.

This film must have stimulated many people’s consciences.

We Japanese shouldn’t ignore this issue as something unrelated to us.

I believe that human solidarity crosses all borders.