Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa decided Friday to temporarily release a 46-year-old Myanmarese asylum-seeker, who had been detained for overstaying his visa since Oct. 31, citing humanitarian concerns over his two daughters.
In a press conference after the day's Cabinet meeting, Nozawa said he had ordered Immigration Bureau officials to release Khin Maung Latt, a democracy activist who has lived in Japan for more than a decade with his Filipino wife. The couple's two daughters, aged 6 and 9, were born in Japan.
"There is little possibility that he will flee," Nozawa said.