Iran does not receive deported citizens if they are unwilling to return, as its constitution guarantees freedom of residence and movement. | GETTY IMAGES

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Japan won't grant new residency status to Iranians as Tehran won't take back deportees

JIJI

The Justice Ministry has decided not to grant a new type of residency status for foreign workers to people holding Iranian citizenship.

The decision, announced Monday in a government gazette, was made because the Iranian government refuses to cooperate in receiving Iranian people deported from Japan for illegal stays and other reasons, officials said.

The ministry fears that the number of illegal residents may rise if the new status, which was introduced at the start of the new fiscal year on Monday and is intended to shore up Japan’s workforce, is granted to Iranians.

A ministry ordinance requires those subject to the status to have a passport of a country that is cooperative in accepting its own deported citizens.

Iran does not receive its deported people if they are unwilling to return, as its constitution guarantees freedom of residence and movement.

The ministry also considered leaving out Turkey, which had been uncooperative in accepting its citizens who did not possess valid passports.

Turkey was not excluded because it agreed to cooperate in response to Japan’s prompting, officials said.

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