http:\/\/www.yomiuri.co.jp\/dy\/national\/20061222TDY02004.htm<\/a><\/p>\nTwo state-run immigration centers where foreigners who have violated the
\nImmigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law are detained until they are
\ndeported failed to have a full-time doctor on staff despite ministerial
\nrequirements, it has been learned.<\/p>\n
As adequate medical treatment and health care for the detainees is
\nstipulated in a Justice Ministry ordinance, a full-time doctor is required
\nto be stationed at the centers’ clinics.<\/p>\n
However, the West Japan Immigration Center in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, has
\nnot had a full-time doctor for about five months since the last doctor
\nresigned on Aug. 1, according to the Immigration Bureau.<\/p>\n
The Omura Immigration Center has not had a full-time doctor for about two
\nyears since a clinic chief dispatched from a local university resigned at
\nthe end of 2004.<\/p>\n
Full-time doctors shoulder such responsibilities as preventing the spread of
\ninfectious diseases and instructing nurses and other staff.<\/p>\n
Maintaining adequate medical and health services at detention facilities of
\nany kind is also stipulated in the U.N. Body of Principles for the
\nProtection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment
\nadopted at the General Assembly in 1988. Therefore, the government may face
\ncriticism from abroad over the centers’ lack of full-time doctors.<\/p>\n
Addressing the situation, the Immigration Bureau began recruiting
\nprospective applicants through several channels, including the ministry’s
\nWeb site and local job-placement offices.<\/p>\n
But no applications have been received due to the demands of the work, which
\nrequires that doctors be able to deal with people of different nationalities
\nand handle the attendant culture and language issues.<\/p>\n
Doctors also complain that the centers pay less than private hospitals, and
\nthat working at the centers will not further their careers.<\/p>\n
The introduction of a national system requiring doctors who have just passed
\nthe national exam to undergo training at medical institutions is another
\nreason for the lack of full-time doctors at the centers.<\/p>\n
Because the new system allows doctors to work at private hospitals, where
\nsalaries are relatively high, during their training, many prefer to work
\nthere rather than at university hospitals, which are also facing a shortage
\nof doctors.<\/p>\n
As a result, a local university hospital discontinued sending an experienced
\ndoctor to the Omura center after the clinic chief left the center on Dec.
\n31, 2004.<\/p>\n
According to the Immigration Bureau, of the nation’s three immigration
\ncenters, only the East Japan Immigration Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki
\nPrefecture, has a full-time doctor.<\/p>\n
Addressing the problem, the West Japan and Omura centers have each hired a
\npart-time doctor to work six hours a week, over two days.<\/p>\n
As of the end of October, there were 254 detainees at West Japan center, and
\n176 at Omura center. Of these, 15 at West Japan center and four at Omura
\ncenter have been detained for six months or longer.<\/p>\n
The immigration centers have detained Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Myanmars
\nand other Asian nationals, as well as people from Middle Eastern, Latin
\nAmerican and African nations.<\/p>\n
If there is an emergency when no doctor is on hand, detainees are sent to
\nnearby hospitals by ambulance or other means. But in all cases they are to
\nbe accompanied by officials to prevent them from escaping.<\/p>\n
If the detainees are hospitalized, officials are required to watch them
\naround-the-clock in shifts. So officials are often called in on their days
\noff.<\/p>\n
A member of an Osaka-based civic group supporting foreigners said: “There
\nare cases in which detainees complaining of poor health couldn’t immediately
\nundergo medical examination and treatment. That’s a serious problem.”<\/p>\n
An Immigration Bureau general affairs division spokesman said, “A part-time
\ndoctor isn’t enough, so we’ll continue our efforts to find a full-time
\ndoctor.”<\/p>\n
Makoto Teranaka, secretary general of Amnesty International Japan said: “The
\ncentral government hasn’t fulfilled its responsibility to ensure adequate
\nmedical services at the centers. It’s required to have a budget for two
\nfull-time in-house doctors at each facility.”<\/p>\n
DAILY YOMIURI (Dec. 22, 2006)\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Daily Yomiuri reports: Two state-run immigration “Gaijin Tanks” (where overstayers await deportation) failed to have a full-time doctor on staff despite ministerial requirements. Maintaining adequate medical and health services at detention facilities of any kind is stipulated in the U.N. Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,12,4,10,11,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","category-immigration-assimilation","category-japanese-government","category-japanese-policeforeign-crime","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}