The Tokyo District Court on Thursday made a rare order to the state to grant asylum to a Sri Lankan man who had his refugee application declined by the Justice Ministry despite an earlier successful lawsuit.
The 58-year-old plaintiff, who declined to be named, is a member of the ethnic Tamil minority. He applied for refugee status in October 2006, believing his life was in danger after Sri Lankan police suspected him of collaborating with a Tamil rebel group during the civil war that lasted until 2009.
When the man fled the country, he originally planned to join his brother in Canada and claim asylum there. But he was stopped from boarding his flight to Canada at Central Japan International Airport in Aichi Prefecture because he did not have a valid passport to enter Japan.