Japan extends residency permit term for coup-hit Myanmar diaspora

Apr 17, 2022 | News On Japan

Apr 17, 2022 (Japan Today) - Japan will offer Myanmar residents who were given special permission to stay following last year's military coup in their homeland yearlong extensions instead of the current six-month renewals, the justice minister said.

The doubling of the term of the "designated activities" residency status announced by Yoshihisa Furukawa comes amid little improvement in the Southeast Asian country, where violence followed the overthrow of the democratically elected government.

After the junta took power Feb 1 last year, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan introduced an emergency measure in May 2021 to allow people from Myanmar to remain beyond the expiration of their initial visas.

Under the measure, they were allowed to switch their residency status to "designated activities," allowing them to stay and work for a further six months. Extensions were also for six months.

By the end of March this year, around 4,600 people from Myanmar had been given "designated activities" status, which is granted based on individual circumstances.

According to immigration authorities, there were some 35,700 Myanmar residents in Japan as of June last year, of whom the largest group, at almost 14,000, were technical interns.

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