Japan Envoy Instructed Asylum Seekers Be Expelled

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, May 15, 2002

Japan Envoy Instructed Asylum Seekers Be Expelled

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Just hours before five asylum seekers entered the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, northeastern China, last Wednesday, the Japanese ambassador to China told embassy staff in Beijing that any asylum seekers who entered the embassy were to be expelled, sources close to the embassy said Tuesday. This was reported by Kyodo from Beijing May 14.

Koreshige Anami, Japanese ambassador to China, referring to a series of attempts by asylum seekers in China to seek asylum at foreign embassies in Beijing, was quoted as telling a meeting of embassy staff, ''If they enter the (Japanese) embassy ground, consider them to be suspicious and drive them out.

''If any problems arise with regard to the humanitarian aspect, I will take responsibility. It is better to drive them out than to let them enter and cause trouble,'' he was quoted as saying.

The staff present at the meeting apparently did not raise any objections to Anami's expulsion remark, the sources said, adding. ''It was like the ambassador was unilaterally issuing an edict. The atmosphere did not permit staff to argue or discuss'' his statement.

After the meeting, some staff did apparently question the ambassador's remark, saying, ''Should we really be doing that?''

On Tuesday night, the Japanese Embassy released what it described as a summary of Anami's remarks, acknowledging the Anami discussed the issue of refugees. The summary, however, contained no reference about expelling would-be asylum-seekers from the embassy.

According to the embassy transcript, Anami raised the issue of security at the embassy and merely told the embassy staff that ''they should try stop those who try to intrude into the embassy compound.''

''The embassy staff should act according to regulations and try to find out the situation outside the embassy gate,'' Anami said, according to the transcript.

The staff meeting began at 10 a.m. Wednesday last week. About four hours later, five asylum-seekers, including a child and two women, sought asylum at the Japanese consulate in the northeastern city of Shenyang and were forcibly removed by Chinese public security officers, who later claimed they acted with permission from consulate officials.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Monday officially denied that consulate officials gave the Chinese police officers permission to remove the asylum seekers.

Anami, 61, told Kyodo News, ''People trying to scale a fence could be terrorists, so I said that security should be tightened.

''I also said if they attempt to enter from the main gate, staff should confirm their identity before letting them pass the gate, and if they have already entered, they should be dealt with squarely from a humanitarian perspective,'' he said.

The ambassador, however, did not clarify whether he did in fact issue instructions to drive such people out.

The embassy holds a regular general staff meeting every Wednesday. Anami has also apparently issued similar instructions with regard to how asylum seekers should be handled at a meeting of executive staff, according to the sources.

Other embassies in Beijing have been stepping up security since the number of asylum seekers breaching security and gaining embassy and consulate compounds began increasing.

Those people who do manage to get past security and enter embassy or consulate grounds, however, are never passed onto Chinese authorities or expelled but are instead sent to third countries on humanitarian grounds.

In Japan, the debate continues over whether Japanese consulate officials acted justly in the face of the asylum seekers' desire for sanctuary.

Anami's remark, if confirmed to be true, is likely to generate even more controversy, as many will likely see it as inhumane or unjust, and could lead to not only Anami's removal from the envoy post but also to Kawaguchi's resignation as foreign minister to take responsibility, political analysts said.

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