A 16-year-old Japan-born Filipino girl and her family, fighting deportation by Japanese immigration authorities, have decided not to appeal their case to the top court and to leave the country, the family's lawyer said Thursday.
The decision comes after the Tokyo High Court on April 13 overturned a lower court ruling in favor of the girl, allowing only her to stay, and supported the government's decision to deport all six members of her family.
According to the lawyer, Koichi Kodama, the family has decided to go to the Philippines because it can no longer live apart from the father, who has been detained for nearly two years at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau.
The family has requested that its name not be reported out of privacy concerns.
Kodama said the members also thought it best to comply with the order and go to the Philippines while the children are still young enough to adapt to the environment there.
The girl, whose first name is Jomein, is a second-year high school student. Her three brothers, aged 12, 8 and 5, were born in Japan and can only speak Japanese. The family lives in Saku, Nagano Prefecture.
The father came in on a 15-day visa and the mother entered illegally, both in 1986.
The bureau issued a deportation order to the family in May 2003 after discovering in 1999 that the parents were living here illegally.