by Mari Sunagawa

There are a lot of undocumented migrants who work as hostesses in Japan. Most of them have something to do with middleman brokers. Some vicious middleman brokers forgery migrant’s visa and take their passports. Then, they make migrants enter into Japan illegally in order to make a profit. Migrants have to work hard at certain place even though the condition is terrible. If they have formal documents, they would call police to improve their condition of work. However, they don’t want to visit the police because they are undocumented migrants. They are afraid of being deported from the host country. This is one of the reasons why the number of vicious middleman brokers doesn’t decrease.

Undocumented migrants or foreign people who commit a crime are forced to leave Japan. The document for stay is not valid for long time. Many documents are valid for less than 3 years. Unless migrants have their documents of expiration, they cannot stay in host country. In May, 2003, in Japan, 1040 undocumented migrants were exposed. The women among them worked at bar of hostess. Most of them came with middleman brokers. The foreign people caught by government are sent to the center for undocumented immigrants. After the preparation of their deporting is arranged, they must go to home country. The home country is the place of one’s nationalities.

The situation of people who have left the host country is worse than in host country. They had decided to be migrants in foreign country because they cannot find the job in their homeland. When they return there, favorable job must not exist. The migrants might send a remittance to their family. Many people in poor country cannot make a living without remittances. In such country, middleman brokers search and find their targets.

The system of deporting undocumented immigrants does not solve the problem. Some people insist that the system of deporting should be stricter for keep the public order in domestic. They think undocumented migrants cause matters and bring social disorder. Certainly, increasing of undocumented migrants should be prevented. However, the system of deporting is not effective. Migrant’s fear of it let middleman brokers do as they want. Japan should extend the range of giving documents. Migrants can have their documents so they call police when they are in trouble. Therefore, the social order will be kept.

Reference

Miyuki Matsushima. 2003. Nyukokukanrikyoku no shigoto (The job of immigration office). Tokyo:Sanshusya