In the shadow of Japan's pledge of $500 million in reconstruction aid for Afghanistan, asylum-seekers who fled the war-torn country remain in detention as they await deportation.
At the Higashi-Nihon Immigration Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, the lawyers of more than 20 Afghans claim that some are suffering deteriorating psychological and physical health after being held for as long as eight months.
"We are just tired of being detained," said Qurban Ali, one of the asylum-seekers, in a recent letter to media organizations. The 29-year-old even suggested an extreme form of protest, saying, "An Afghan refugee may end his life in a Japanese detention facility."