Japan to Exclude Iranians, Turks From New Work Visas

Japan's Justice Ministry plans to block nationals from Iran and Turkey from obtaining a new work visa to be launched in April, in response to their lack of cooperation in accepting citizens deported by Japan.
According to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, the ministry will make a final decision by the end of March based on the result of public opinion surveys. 
The new "specified skills" work visa will be implemented under the revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law to accept more foreign workers as part of efforts to alleviate severe labor shortages in Japan.
The revised law stipulates a condition that people from overseas can only enter Japan if they have passports issued by countries that easily accept their nationals when deported by Japan.
In several cases in the past, Iran refused to issue a document necessary for deportation when a national refused to return to Iran, citing its constitutional provision of protecting freedom of movement. 
Turkey does not accept the deportation of its nationals, if their passports have expired.
Under international norms, countries are obliged to accept their own nationals if deported from another country, therefore the ministry decided to exclude the two countries' nationals from obtaining the “specified skills” resident status, the newspaper wrote.
The immigration control law stipulates that foreigners staying illegally in Japan, or found guilty in criminal cases will be forced to leave. While such individuals remain in custody until their eviction, if proceedings do not progress, procedures for temporary release are taken depending on the case.
Temporary release procedures were followed for 2,796 foreigners as of June 2018. By country, 409 were from the Philippines, 358 from Turkey, 258 from Sri Lanka, 247 from Iran and 200 from China.
The three countries, apart from Turkey and Iran, have been cooperative regarding the deportation of their citizens, Asahi Shimbun concluded.