Reuters reports that Obueza was detained two weeks ago after authorities
turned down an appeal against her asylum rejection.The 48-year-old woman campaigns for asylum seekers and the 4,700 people on
"provisional release" from immigration detention - a status that lets
foreigners out from detention but bars them from working and traveling
freely.
Obueza's
arrest is part of a wider campaign by the Justice Ministry, which in
September 2015 said it would take steps to reduce the 60,000 foreigners
living in Japan without visas. People
on provisional release, many of whom have lived in Japan for decades,
have been among those targeted, activists and lawyers say.
"Elizabeth
was targeted and detained for being an activist," said immigration
lawyer Shoichi Ibusuki. "I want her released immediately."
The
crackdown on people like Obueza comes even as people on provisional
release, despite being legally unable to work, power Japan's
construction and manufacturing sectors as companies scramble to find
workers in the worst labor shortage in decades.
"Elizabeth
is held in solitary because she's an activist and immigration officials
don't want her causing trouble," said Mitsuru Miyasako, head of the
Provisional Release Association in Japan, a group representing refugees
and immigrants.
"Locking someone up alone in a tiny room is to ruin them psychologically."
Naoaki
Torisu, a senior Justice Ministry official overseeing immigration
detention, declined to comment on Obueza's situation, saying he could
not discuss individual cases.
Obueza,
an evangelical Christian, said she fled Nigeria for Japan in 1991 to
escape female genital mutilation and applied for asylum in 2011. She
told Reuters she was locked up for more than 22 hours a day. Typically,
detainees at the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, where she is held, are
locked up for 18 hours a day, according to the Justice Ministry.
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