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3 foreigners pass tough nursing exam
Two Indonesians and one Filipina have become the first among hundreds of applicants from their countries to pass Japan’s state nursing examination, the health ministry said Friday. Yared Febrian Fernandes and Ria Agustina, both 26 from Indonesia, and Lalin Ever Gammed, 34, from the Philippines, were among 47,340 people, including Japanese, to pass this year.…
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Fewer foreign trainees at hospitals
The number of Japanese medical institutions and other entities accepting Indonesians and Filipinos training to qualify as nurses or caregivers in fiscal 2010 will fall sharply compared with the current fiscal year. Language problems apparently proved to be an insurmountable barrier for some. According to the Japan International Corp. of Welfare Services, only 62 entities…
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Local suffrage for foreigners in sight, but opposition grows stronger
For Chang Yooka, there is hardly a moment in her daily life that she feels she is a third-generation Korean. But the 27-year-old faces that reality every time an election takes place in her hometown because she does not have the right to vote in any election. Chang was born to Korean parents in Ichinomiya,…
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Gov’t picks 39 groups for free language lessons for needy foreigners
The education ministry has picked 39 groups and organizations across the country to hold free Japanese-language classes for foreign children who cannot afford to attend international schools due to financial difficulties, ministry officials said Monday. The groups, including nonprofit organizations, in 14 prefectures will hold a total of 42 Japanese-language classes at local community centers…
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Detainees staging hunger strike
A hunger strike staged by inmates at the West Japan Immigration Center [in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture] entered its fifth day Friday with protesters demanding improved living conditions and protection of their rights, sources said. The 70 inmates, nearly all the men held at the facility, began fasting on Monday, center officials and supporters of inmates…
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70 immigration detainees on hunger strike
Fast in Osaka tied to denial of release: activists At least 70 detainees at the West Japan Immigration Control Center, which has long been criticized by human rights groups and Diet members, have been on a hunger strike since Monday, center officials and volunteers helping them confirmed Thursday. “Around 70 foreigners began a hunger strike…
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Foreigners rally over job security
Hundreds of foreign and Japanese people staged a rally Sunday in Tokyo demanding better working conditions and employment benefits for foreign residents. At the annual “March in March” event at Hibiya Park in Chiyoda Ward, Louis Carlet, deputy general secretary of the National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu, said foreign workers have a great…
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Foreigners get nod to skip social insurance
The Immigration Bureau announced Wednesday new guidelines for foreign residents, stating that joining the social insurance system is not a requirement for renewing or changing one’s visa status. The bureau told The Japan Times on Feb. 1 that it had decided to change the wording of the new guidelines — which were originally drawn up…
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Health insurance nixed as visa renewal condition
The Immigration Bureau has effectively scrapped a guideline that compelled foreign residents to present health insurance cards when applying to extend visa status, it has been learned. The new guideline, due to be enforced on April 1, states it would have requested non-Japanese to enroll in the social insurance system and present health insurance cards…
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Police crack down on legal workers who help foreigners illegally work in Japan
Law enforcers are stepping up their crackdown on administrative scriveners who help foreigners illegally work or get falsely married in Japan, officials said. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has set up a liaison council with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Justice Ministry’s Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau to deal with the matter. Since 2006, the…