Japan Economic Newswire (Kyodo)
November 4, 2003
TOKYO: More than 15,000 people have so far signed a petition seeking the release of a Myanmar man detained for overstaying his visa in Japan and who is also on the brink of being separated from his Filipino wife and their two daughters, petition organizers said Tuesday.
With the end of the first stage of the signature campaign, initiated by the Tokyo-based nongovernmental organization People's Forum on Burma (PFB), lawyers for Khin Maung Latt, a 46-year-old pro-democracy Myanmar activist, again called on the Tokyo Immigration Bureau to release him temporarily, pending a ruling on his request for asylum and the family's wish for a special residence permit.
The immigration authorities say they will respond to the request in a week or two, according to Mayumi Kubo of the PFB secretariat.
Kubo said she believes the signature drive will have a great bearing on the campaign for Khin Maung Latt in hopes of overturning the reality that the couple may be deported to their respective countries -- the husband to Myanmar and the wife to the Philippines along with the daughters.
She added the signatures were gathered in only a week, and pinned hopes that as the drive continues, more signatures will be gathered.
As of Tuesday, organizers gathered the names of 15,108 people, for the petition, which asks the Justice Ministry not to deport or detain the family. Authorities are also urged to take into account the family's circumstances and allow it to remain in Japan.
Some 2,400 signatures were received online and about 12,500 others were delivered to the PFB personally and by other means.
Khin Maung Latt has been detained twice at the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, the first time in 1998 when he and his wife Maria presented themselves to immigration authorities with expired visas, only to be detained soon after, according to the PFB.
Maria, 36, and their daughters Demi, 9, and Michelle, 6, were released temporarily but Khin Maung Latt was detained for about three months. After his provisional release, he was again detained this year.
As the Myanmar government restricts marriage by Myanmar nationals to foreigners, the daughters hold Philippine citizenship as does their mother. The two girls were born and raised in Japan, and can speak only Japanese.
Khin Maung Latt arrived in Japan in 1988 to escape persecution by the military junta in Myanmar, the PFB said. He later married Maria in 1995.
He began working at a delivery firm in 1993 while being politically active in supporting the democracy movement in his home country.
In 1994, he applied for refugee status but was rejected. His family and their supporters have since been working for the justice ministry to reconsider its decision about the family's status and to prod authorities to release him.
Supporters believe that if Khin Maung Latt returns home, he will be sent straight to prison. Prospects are also apparently dim as to whether his family could join him there, given the existing political conditions in Myanmar.
His wife and daughters currently live in a home in Tokyo, according to the PFB.
[end]