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Indonesians seek flexibility in exam for foreign nurses
Indonesia’s nursing association has called on the Japanese government to be more flexible in the national nursing exam so more foreign nurses can pass it and work in the nation. Achir Yani, president of the Indonesian National Nurses’ Association, made the call following a recent announcement by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry that only…
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Attorney to work in bar, against bar association’s wishes
An attorney bar in which a lawyer serves alcoholic drinks and chats with customers about legal affairs is set to open in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on April 12. The bar, Legal Bar Roppo, is to be operated by lawyer Jun Sotooka, 29, who belongs to the Daini Tokyo Bar Association, together with the president of…
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Korean worker who sued Tokyo govt retires
Public health nurse Chong Hyang Gyun was all smiles when she retired from the Tokyo metropolitan government recently, even though it had refused to let her seek promotion because of her South Korean nationality. A second-generation Korean resident of this country, Chong sued the metropolitan government in 1994, demanding she be allowed to take a…
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Migrants in Japan facing discrimination
Migrants in Japan face discrimination, exploitation and other forms of mistreatment, an independent United Nations human rights expert said, urging the Japanese Government to strengthen their protection. “They [migrants] still face a range of challenges, including racism and discrimination, exploitation, a tendency by the judiciary and police to ignore their rights, and the overall lack…
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Protests hit immigration detainee treatment
Some 30 Japanese, Chinese, Ghanaian and ethnic Kurds from Turkey staged protests Wednesday in front of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau in Shinagawa Ward and the Justice Ministry in Chiyoda Ward, demanding better treatment for detainees. Masanori Kashiwazaki, a member of SYI, a group supporting foreigners detained in immigration detention centers, gave identical protest letters…
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U.N. rights rapporteur says end foreign trainee program ‘slavery’
A visiting U.N. expert on the rights of migrants urged the government Wednesday to terminate its industrial trainee and technical intern program for workers from overseas, saying it may amount to “slavery” in some cases, fueling demand for exploitative cheap labor in possible violation of human rights. “This program should be discontinued and replaced by…
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Year-end bonuses down 9.3% on year
Average year-end bonuses paid to workers at businesses with at least five employees declined last year by a record 9.3 percent from the previous year to less than 400,000 yen, the labor ministry said Wednesday. The average year-end bonus stood at 380,258 yen, marking the first time it has fallen under 400,000 yen since the…
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Layoffs to affect 270,000 nonregular workers by June
The period between October 2008 and this June will see 4,955 employers shed 269,790 nonregular jobs, a March labor ministry survey showed Tuesday. The figure, including workers whose labor contracts with manpower agencies were not renewed after expiration, increased by 7,192 from the previous survey in February, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said. A…
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Deportation rule troubles U.N. official
A recent government decision to deport only the parents of families without residency status, thus separating children from their mothers and fathers, flies in the face of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Jorge Bustamante, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, said Saturday in Tokyo. Bustamante, who is on his…
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1st foreign nurses pass national exam
Two Indonesians and one Filipina have become the first foreign nurses to pass Japan’s national nursing qualification test after work experience at Japanese hospitals under economic partnership agreements, the health ministry said Friday. The three are among the 370 foreign nurses who have visited this country under an EPA-related project launched in fiscal 2008, hoping…