*EPF106 06/16/2003
Excerpt: Japan on State Department's Tier 2 List for Trafficking
(2003 Trafficking in Persons Report released June 11) (760)

The State Department designated Japan as a Tier 2 government in its third Trafficking in Persons Report in recognition of the Japanese government's "significant efforts" to meet congressionally set standards for combating human trafficking.

The report, released June 11, notes that Japan "is a country of destination for men, women, and children trafficked for sexual exploitation" as well as a country with internal trafficking as victims are "resold" between traffickers.

In the face of this, the report says, the Japanese government "is providing international funding for anti-trafficking efforts in Southeast Asia and conducting symposiums that help focus other governments."

"At home, however, measures are less advanced," the report continues.

"Japan's law enforcement and immigration response is seriously hindered because government officials, unclear on the nature of trafficking, tend to define the crime too narrowly and disagree among themselves about who is a trafficking victim," it states.

The report also notes that the Japanese government has no national plan of action to combat trafficking of persons.

The State Department is required to report to Congress annually whether foreign governments meet the minimum standards set for the elimination of trafficking as detailed in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of October 2000. Governments that do not fully meet the act's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to do so, are put on the Tier 2 list.

The full text of the report is available at: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2003/

Following is an excerpt on Japan from the report released by the Department of State June 11:

(begin excerpt)

JAPAN (Tier 2)

Japan is a country of destination for men, women, and children trafficked for sexual exploitation. Victims come mainly from China, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Colombia, and Eastern Europe. Some victims are lured to Japan under false pretenses; others come aware that they will work in the lucrative Japanese sex trade and are abused after their arrival. Trafficking also occurs within Japan as victims are "resold" between traffickers.

The Government of Japan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government is providing international funding for anti-trafficking efforts in Southeast Asia and conducting symposiums that help focus other governments. At home, however, measures are less advanced. The government has no national plan of action. Japan's law enforcement and immigration response is seriously hindered because government officials, unclear on the nature of trafficking, tend to define the crime too narrowly and disagree among themselves about who is a trafficking victim.

Prevention

Japan is active internationally, conducting training seminars for immigration officials in source countries throughout Southeast Asia to help them prevent trafficking. Domestically, the government holds information campaigns against the abuse of foreign workers. The government sponsored a seminar in 2003 with UNICEF to raise awareness of child trafficking, but needs to take further legislative efforts to address the issue of commercial sex tourism where some citizens travel abroad with the express purpose of having sex with minors.

Prosecution

Japan has no law specifically prohibiting trafficking, although in practice it applies mainly the immigration and labor laws against traffickers. The government does investigate traffickers, but the number of prosecutions has been too few and the penalties too weak to act as an effective deterrent against the professional syndicates involved in trafficking. The 2003 arrest and conviction of kingpin trafficker Koichi "Sony" Hagiwara were significant. His criminal sentence, like many violent crime sentences in Japan, was light by U.S. standards (less than two years for a repeat offender who operated a criminal trafficking organization which moved hundreds of victims from Colombia) indicating a weakness in Japan's punishment of traffickers. The government does not aggressively prosecute and punish the criminal organizations involved in trafficking.

Protection

The Japanese Government does not adequately protect victims. The government's authority to provide temporary residency status to foreigners in an emergency is rarely invoked for foreign trafficking victims. Japanese officials are trained to deal with the extenuating circumstances of foreign victims; however, in practice, they tend to treat them as illegal migrants and quickly deport them. Victims who are suspected of attempting to avoid deportation may be held in detention centers, a treatment inappropriate to their status as crime victims. Facing deportation, victims have few options to seek legal remedies against traffickers in civil courts. Japan is active internationally making generous donations to UNDP and IOM to aid victims in Vietnam and Cambodia.

(end excerpt)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Return to Public File Main Page

Return to Public Table of Contents