PLANNING TO SEEK ASYLUM IN JAPAN? DON'T COUNT ON IT.

Even in the face of declining population and birth rate...

"Government data do show that the chances of gaining asylum in Japan are dismal. Between 1982 and 2003, 3,118 people applied. In more than 20 years, only 315 have been accepted as refugees; 10 out of 300 in the past year. It's by far the lowest count among all members of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized countries. The odds are even worse for the Dogans, who had nearly exhausted all avenues for appeal. Japan has rejected all of nearly 500 (483 as of last August) Turkish Kurds who have applied for asylum since 1996. Like many others, the Dogans now fear that a routine check-in with immigration will end in sudden detention and deportation. This has also happened to others. "

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