A/HRC/17/33/Add.3
80.
Further, the Industrial Trainees and Technical Interns Programme should be
discontinued and replaced by an employment programme aimed at ensuring the
original purpose of such programme to transfer skills and technologies to developing
countries. In the light of the serious human rights violations reported, specific
legislation should be adopted to regulate the new programme. It should include more
effective and accessible monitoring and complaint mechanisms for the protection of
the human rights of participants, to be managed by a body totally independent from
participating companies, and guarantee access to avenues for redress.
81.
With respect to the human rights of migrant children:
(a)
Japan should ensure that the principle of the best interests of the child
guides any judicial and administrative decision which has an impact on children. In
this regard, Japan should reconsider its reservation to article 37, paragraph (c) of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, so that the best interest of the child is taken
into consideration in determining whether or not the child deprived of liberty should
be separated from adults. In particular, it should ensure that a child is not separated
from his or her parents against his or her will, except when it is in the best interests of
the child;
(b)
The right to the State’s protection of the family as a fundamental group
unit of society should receive full protection and be systematically taken into
consideration by Japan in judicial and administrative decisions and policies. In this
connection, Japan should reconsider its declaration on article 9, paragraph 1, of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child in order to ensure that children are not
separated from their parents against their will and best interests as a result of
deportation. Therefore, Japan should review decision-making processes relating to
deportation of migrants and ensure that the best interest of the child is systematically
taken into account as primary consideration in deportation procedures.18 In a similar
vein, the Special Rapporteur recommends that Japan revisit its declaration on article
10, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, so that the authorities
give due weight to the importance of a family unit in determining applications for
family reunification;
(c)
The right to education for migrant children should be recognized and
guaranteed by law. The Government should increase efforts to facilitate migrant
children’s study either in Japanese or foreign schools, and to provide assistance in
learning Japanese to migrant children who wish to study at Japanese schools. The
Government should develop educational programmes to address structural obstacles
such as the low Japanese-language proficiency level and different cultural
backgrounds that cause school non-attendance and marginalization of migrant
children. The Government should also establish a national policy that guarantees to
any migrant children access to Japanese-language teaching: this access should not
depend on the policies that may have been adopted at the municipal level, and should
be financially supported by the Government at the national level. In this context, the
Government should establish special preparation programmes and separate
examinations for the access of migrant children to high school, in accordance with the
experience of some schools that have already adopted this system with positive results.
(d)
Migrant children with disabilities or in need of psychological assistance
should receive adequate and timely support, in order not to compromise their
18
20
With regard to migrant children, the Special Rapporteur refers the Government to the concluding
observations addressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child to Japan in 2010
(CRC/C/JPN/CO/3, paras. 33, 34, 37 and 38).