Parents of 13-yr-old set to leave Japan
 

I've just seen this on TV and it seems really sad. An undocumented Filipino couple who have been under a deportation order arrived at Narita airport Monday afternoon to leave Japan and return to the Philippines, leaving behind their 13-year-old Japan-born-and-raised daughter who was recently granted special permission to stay for one year. For more about it you can go to the website i found it on. Parents of 13-yr-old Filipino girl set to leave Japan on extradition+

I hate this sort of thing.

On the one hand I sympathise with the family.

On the other hand... laws need to be enforced.

I agree. It is really painful to see, absolutely. I understand them completely, as my parents do not have Dutch citizenship and have to extend their Turkish "green cards" every 3 years or so. And if the Dutch government refuses, they could be forced to leave the Netherlands. Anyhow, laws have to be enforced and like most Turkish teachers say: priviledge one, and you'll be forced to priviledge more!

wasteful this is not bbc

They came into the country illegally, using fake documents... And are now trying to use their daughter as a free get out of jail card.
I have no sympathy for them.

For the daughter - on one hand yes, the other no. Listening to her interviews, she plays the part perfectly.

If this had been a case of simply overstaying a visa it would be one thing - perhaps an attempt to escape unhappy lives, etc. But the effort and amount of money it takes to get a fake passport, visa, etc shows that this was their intent. No laws should be bent for them.

I hate it when people use the term "undocumented" instead of the correct term, which is "illegal". The parents in this case committed a crime, several, in fact, and now they are paying the consequences.

It's a shame that the daughter has to suffer, but it is her parents who are to blame, and no one else. Her parents knowingly broke the law when they came to Japan. They gave birth to their daughter while in full knowledge that they were living and working in the country illegally. They knew very well what would happen if they were ever caught, and that it was likely that one day they would be.

When i saw the video news cameras showed the girl crying while here parents were in line to get on the next plain out of japan. The mom can only speak japanese that will be really hard for her.

I don`t know where you heard that the mother can only speak Japanese, but in every interview I have seen where she spoke - her Japanese was actually really poor... And she would divert the talking over to her husband. It was my impression that her Japanese was not all that good at all, and definitely not her only language.

The little girl though, yes, I believe she only speaks Japanese.

However, you can`t make exceptions (any more than have already been made). The parents came into Japan illegally - and it was not an accident. They obtain fake passports (or was it used someone else`s stolen passport? I forget) to enter the country. Posing falsely as Japanese citizens.
If they had simply overstayed their visas, the possibility of granting them residency was there. But that isn`t the case. They made the choice, and likely would have continued on in hiding, falsifying their identities, etc.

Depressing for the little girl, but they have made the exception of allowing her to stay in Japan, even though she has no legal right to it. Forgiving guilty parents because a child is innocent? Not something I can support.

YouTube - GoroGoroNeco's Channel

This is a collection of news reports from Youtube.

I talked to my friend in Japan about it and he said the media seems to be focusing on the poor little girl and less on the criminal activities of her parents.

Mass media is mass media. They`ll focus on what gets them viewers, and what could be more appealing than a poor 13 year old crying because her parents are sent away?

Newspapers, magazines, 週刊誌 etc - not quite as kind. There are more than enough people out there who are very unsatisfied with the level of "exceptions to the rule" being made for this family, even if the parents are being deported.
I`ve noticed quite a bit of surprise if I express my disappointment in the lightness of the government choices (I think they should have been charged in a criminal light, and banned entry to Japan for life like everyone else who does the same crap without having a kid to look cute on TV for their sake...)
I guess people expect me to want to defend them, being as they`re not Japanese. *sigh*

So, Josh, countries should have no borders and shouldn't be allowed to restrict the volume of people that come into their country.

Why should any third-country or second-country government work to improve the living conditions of its citizens when those that want to can just leave and go to a nicer country?

Who created the situation this poor girl is in?

I said that if they were simply overstaying a visa in an attempt to avoid going back to an unhappy life, I would feel differently.

It has been speculated that they spent an incredible amount of money (partially backed by interviews with the parents themselves) on obtaining passports, and falsifying their identification.

You can`t say that you are trying to escape poverty when evidence has been presented that you spent $30,000+ on the "escape". Saying they are simply trying to escape unhappiness and poverty... Well, that`s a hard pill for me to swallow at this point.

Sympathy for the girl, who is temporarily losing her parents? Yes. But sympathy for parents who made the choice to blatantly break the law when they apparently had the means to work toward a legal route? And then want to be made an exception, pushing their suffering daughter to beg on their behalf? To the point that it borders on straight out exploitation? And on top of that, a mother who slipped up in an early interview saying that she thought that "If we had a baby who was raised as Japanese only, they would let us stay, so we did."

Nope. Sorry.

Christ, Josh, no need to go overboard. Instead of twisting my words into what you wanted to hear me say and make me look like an @**hole, why don't you respond to what I actually said?

The Japanese government committed no injustice in this matter, they were merely enforcing the laws of their country against those who knowingly broke them.

Fleeing oppression is one thing, but these people were from the Philippines, so they can hardly be described as "oppressed". They had the means and the money to travel to Japan, purchase false documents, etc., so they were not suffering economically either.

Japan (and every other country) has the right to regulate it's own borders, and to let in who it pleases. This is not because they are cold-hearted, but because their first obligation is to the well being of their own people. Unchecked immigration leads to any and all number of social problems, from crime to the spread of disease.

The parents in this case do not deserve any sympathy, just as a burglar who injures himself while breaking into your home deserves none. They were caught breaking the law, and it really is as simple as that. As it is, the Japanese government was far more lenient to these people than they have been to others. Simply overstaying one's visa by a few days will usually lead to instant deportation, and result in a temporary (4 or more years) to permanent ban from ever returning.

WTF? Your post looks like an opinion piece from FOX news. I think I agree with Josh for the most part.

You're pretty heartless. I really don't know much about this story but you do know that 30,000 is not a lot of money do you?

I mean people smugglers take life savings from people to get them to Australia, often selling everything they own for the voyage. 30000 dollars is not an abnormal amount of money.

The legal route is not an option.. these people are often unskilled and trying to make a better life.

You might call using the daughter for sympathy exploitation... As I said I don't know much about this particular situation... but most of the time these people are desperate to stay.

Poverty isn't always what makes a family unhappy. Back in Algeria, my dad had one of the highest salaries in the country by the time I was born. However, he fought very had to get our family out of the country because of many things including terrorism. My brothers witnessed terrorist attacks at their school, at the school I went and even on our route to school. Money can't always buy you safety, protection, good health services etc etc. Luckily, my fathers company asked him to move abroad, but many Algerians don't have this choice, including my cousins. If my cousins felt their lives to be in serious danger, I would break the law to get them out of there...!

If I ever had to, I'd break any law to get my family into safety. I'd sell everything I ever owned just so I get fake passports etc to go to a safer country.

*by any law, I mean immigration law etc. Nothing like murder. lol

For some reason everyone seems to think that I am referring to all immigrants.

I`m not.

I am talking about this very specific and particular case. They were not "unskilled" and did not even attempt to take the legal route. There were multiple options available for these people. But they made the choice to buy a stolen passport and come to Japan.

There are cases where perhaps exceptions should be made. This is not one of them.

I mean, even the Japanese government stated that if they`d just come to Japan on a tourist visa and overstayed it, they probably wouldn`t have been deported in the end. The option to be sponsored, etc would have been open to them. But it is crime on top of crime which has locked them out of any legal option.

I`ll save my pity for those who truly are desperate and trying to escape horrific situations. Not a couple who admits that they had a kid and raised her "Japanese" to keep them in the country if ever caught.

Nyoronin, I'm not very familiar with this case in particular, but I just wanted to ask a question; All this information about it, is it coming from interviewing the couple or is it from what was actually said in a court room (plus interviews of the parents and child)?

From newspaper and television interviews with the parents. I am not too quick to believe reports, and was actually a bit sympathetic toward their situation until the parents themselves supported a lot of the negative information.
I haven`t read any court room information/transcripts, although I assume that some newspaper info must be derived from it.

I have no issues with those trying to escape horrific situations... But I can`t say I support a couple who have pretty much admitted to just wanting an easy way to get away with it... Especially when it ends up hurting their daughter to this level.

More than any breaking of the law, the near exploitation of the daughter and the admittance by the mother that they believed she would be a free ticket out of punishment for their crimes just really gives me an awful taste in my mouth.

And what options would that be?

Apology accepted.

I feel passionate, too, about the injustice these parents inflicted on their daughter.

Is it really easier to get fake passports, documents, and pretend that you're Japanese than it is to just legally move there?

I`ll answer these two quotes together.

In the case of the Philippines, it is indeed easier to take a legal route into the country. There are tons of legal immigrants from the Philippines in Japan. It isn`t a country that requires a flee-by-night approach. Visas are issued on a regular basis.
It may be quicker to go the fake route - you don`t have to wait for anything official to clear, obviously... But it isn`t as if the option to go through a legal route was unavailable to them.

If they had escaped to Japan from North Korea or the like, I am sure I would feel quite a bit differently about their case. But to forgive and forget in their case is basically saying "Hey, don`t even bother with the official routes. If you pop a kid out here we`ll forgive you and give you residency!"

I`m sure that in the beginning they weren`t thinking all that long term about these things, but at any time along the way they could have contacted an anonymous immigration center (they exist for things like this - Japan is actually surprisingly kind to illegal immigrants who want to stop being illegal...) to attempt to avoid hurting their daughter.

Its harder when you go through the right channels to get into any country.You'd be asked series of questions that must satisfy the authority who is required to stamp your visa.

on the other hand, getting fake passports, documents and the like is easier since you dont get asked any questions BUT is more expensive and it bothers on a percentage chance of whether you may be caught or not like this case you guys have been discussing.

My opinion: Extradite the parents (they most likely would be jailed in their country because of the attention this has brought) but keep the child in a foster home.

If the legal route is the only option, and you can't enter legally, then there is no option, is there?. Breaking the law is not the path to a better life. By your logic, it would be perfectly legal to steal from others if your job doesn't pay enough, after all, it's not your fault you are unskilled, is it?

There is a fine line between heartless and realistic. How much have you personally done to help the world? Have you donated your time or money to help the unskilled in poor nations? I have. I've been to Haiti, Honduras, Somalia, and Ethiopia. I've set up sanitary facilities, taught people how to purify water, and immunized countless children and adults.

What is the leading cause of poverty? Ignorance, and nothing else. What is the cure for ignorance? Education, of course. The best way to help somebody is to teach them to help themselves.

Instead of complaining about the injustices of the world, or arguing with another's opinion on the subject, you should put your money were your mouth is and do something about it. Join the Peace Corps, or some other organization, go out and see what the world is like when you put your feet on it. You'll find it much different than what you read, see, or hear at home.

Fair enough...

You seem to know more about the situation.

I got the impression that you were basing your opinions on the fact that you thought 30,000 dollars = not impoverished and the fact their daughter will have to be relocated from the country she was born = exploitation for sympathy. (I really can't imagine how it could be termed exploitation... but I'll leave it at that)

What I am referring to as exploitation is their pushing her to appear on TV on every possible station, and making her cry left and right on these shows...
Not to mention having her go around (keeping her out of school to do this, by the way) to large train stations and cry in front of them for petitions, etc.

All while mom and dad stand behind with smiles patting each other on the backs.

As she is 13, without parental permission she cannot do any of this. I find it hard to think that it could possibly be good for her to do hundreds of tearful interviews, and as a parent cannot imagine encouraging my child to do so.