Tag - immigration

 
 

IMMIGRATION

Afghan evacuees arrive at Narita International Airport in October 2021. Applicants from Afghanistan made up the majority of those recognized as refugees by the Japanese government last year, similar to 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 26, 2024
Japan granted refugee status to record 303 asylum-seekers in 2023
While this is a jump from the 202 people in 2022 and a new record high, the number is still considerably lower when compared with Western countries.
Migrants plead with the Texas National Guard to be let through to the U.S. side of the Rio Grande on in El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Mar 22, 2024
Anti-migrant rhetoric surging ahead of elections worldwide, U.N. warns
With around half the global population due to go to the polls in 2024, migrants were "easy" targets, the United Nations' migration chief has said.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2024
Government OKs bill for new foreign worker training system
The new system is expected to begin as early as 2027 if the legislation is enacted.
Motoki Taniguchi (left) and one of his clients, Maurice Shelton, hope their lawsuit can change alleged police practices involving stop-and-search.
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 8, 2024
A lawsuit puts alleged racial profiling by police on trial in Japan
Three residents with foreign roots have filed a lawsuit claiming Japanese police target visible minorities. We discuss what they hope to achieve.
Korean Canadian director, playwright and screenwriter Celine Song walks on the stage to pose for photos after a screening of her film, "Past Lives" in Seoul last week.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2024
Oscar-nominated Korean diaspora film follows 'lives we leave behind'
"Past Lives," which marks Celine Song's debut as a director, is one of several recent films that address the Korean diaspora.
A Vietnamese worker picks tomatoes at a farm in Asahi, Chiba Prefecture. Japan is set to sharply increase the number of foreign nationals it accepts under its skilled worker visa, with plans to receive up to 800,000 people in the next five years.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 6, 2024
Japan considers doubling limit on skilled foreign workers
The government is said to be considering adding the road transportation, railway, forestry and timber sectors to those eligible for the visa.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 5, 2024
Japan's Immigration Agency sets new guidelines for visa overstayers
A legislative amendment will outline the new guidelines to improve transparency and allow individuals to directly apply for special permission to stay.
A new future initiative aimed at training foreign workers is part of a broader strategy to address pressing labor shortages in Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2024
Japan eyes training foreign workers amid labor shortages
The proposed training system will supersede the current foreign technical internship system.
Migrant workers harvest and package vegetables in a greenhouse in Gasan-myeon, South Korea, in December.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 3, 2024
South Korea needs foreign workers, but often fails to protect them
Though a shrinking population makes imported labor vital, migrant workers routinely face predatory employers, inhumane conditions and other abuse.
U.S. President Joe Biden discusses his administrationユs immigration and border security policies at a Border Patrol station in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 1, 2024
Trump and Biden both visit U.S.-Mexico border and spar on immigration
With the presidential election less than eight months away, polls show most voters blame U.S. President Joe Biden for the number of illegal entries.
Prospective foreign vocational school graduates who finish education ministry-accredited academic courses will be granted “technology, humanities and international affairs” residence status intended for white-collar workers such as engineers, interpreters and designers, even if their jobs don’t necessarily relate to what they have studied.
JAPAN
Feb 29, 2024
Japan eases residency rules for foreign graduates of vocational schools
The relaxation of rules is aimed at retaining highly skilled professionals amid a chronic labor shortage.
Christmas lights decorate downtown Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, on Jan. 5. In Canada, a post-COVID explosion in foreign students has resulted in housing shortages and flawed academic programs being taught in strip malls.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 29, 2024
Canada’s welcome for foreign students becomes 'trafficking’ nightmare
An open-door policy has caused rental prices to soar, soured the electorate on new arrivals, and allowed colleges to take advantage of young people.
Ukrainian evacuees arrive at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in April 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 24, 2024
90% of Ukrainian evacuees in Japan unwilling to return home
According to the survey of 153 Ukrainian evacuees last month, only 16, or 10.5%, said they would return home immediately if a cease-fire is reached.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 20, 2024
Japan considers revoking permanent resident status of tax dodgers
Immigration authorities are considering revoking the residency status of foreign permanent residents who evade or repeatedly delay paying their taxes.
A Ukrainian soldier walks next to a howitzer while waiting for it to fire toward Russian positions, in the Donetsk region last month.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2024
Democracy slides amid wars and political polarization, study says
Standards across the world fell amid the spread of wars, authoritarian crackdowns and declining levels of trust in mainstream political parties.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 9, 2024
Japan to end technical intern program and allow transfers to new jobs
A planned new system will focus on securing and developing essential workers from abroad to tackle the country's current labor shortage.
U.S. President Joe Biden sought to cast responsibility for the failure to secure an agreement on the border — an issue which polls show is a major political liability for his re-election hopes — on congressional Republicans and Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 7, 2024
Biden pins border bill failure on Trump with Ukraine hanging
Biden acknowledged the Senate package was all but dead.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said an initial vote on the bill would take place no later than Wednesday, but faces opposition from both sides of the aisle.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2024
U.S. Senate unveils $118 billion bipartisan border security bill
The measure faces an uncertain future amid opposition by Donald Trump and hard-line Republicans.
There are currently over 35 million digital nomads around the world, with a collective economic value of $787 billion.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 2, 2024
Japan's digital nomad visas to require ¥10 million in income
People from 49 countries and territories will be able to stay in Japan under the “specified activities” visa category.
Migrants on a beach at sunrise after a failed attempt to cross the Channel to the U.K. on a small boat, in Sangatte, near Calais, France, in August 2023.
WORLD / Society
Feb 2, 2024
U.K. says migration likely to drive stronger population growth
While the trend will help boost the economy, it will also exacerbate a rift within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ruling Conservative Party.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan