FOCUS

Focus
Asia-PacificNewsletter of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA)

December 2017 Vol. 90

Contents

Editorial

Filipinos in Kansai: Living Within JapaneseSociety
This is a discussion of the issues faced by
Filipinos in Kansai that affect their rights asforeigners in Japan.
- Jefferson R. Plantilla

Foreigners and Human Rights

Page 2Marriage Immigrants in Taiwan
This is a discussion of the human rights
issues regarding the non-Taiwanese women
who married Taiwanese.
- The TransAsia Sisters Association (TASAT)
Page 7
The Labor Movement in Malaysia
This is a discussion of the situation andissues of the labor movement in Malaysia.
- Charles Hector
Page 10People and Profits: UP IHR’s Guide on BHR for
NGOs
This is a presentation on theimplementation of a business and humanrights project in the Philippines.
- Voltaire Veneracion and Agni Mentaki
TripodiPage 12The words “All,” “Every,” “Everyone” among other terms embody
the non-discrimination and equality principles of theinternational human rights standards. These simple words matterto those who have been marginalized or restricted by the legal,social, economic and cultural systems of a country. In manycases and for a number of reasons, foreigners are in thissituation.
Under the international human rights standards, foreigners inany country have the same human rights enjoyed by the citizens,except for a few political rights related to the governance of thecountry (right to vote and be voted into public office, forexample).
But foreigners have to contend with other limitations or
restrictions under domestic laws and challenges brought bysocietal attitude. As a result, foreigners are liable to suffer fromdifferent forms of discrimination and restriction as well as legal
problems. This situation constitutes a serious obstacle to theenjoyment by foreigners of their human rights in the family,
school, workplace and community.

General Assembly on Buraku Liberation
Research
This is a report on the 51st General
Assembly of the Buraku Liberation Researchheld in November 2017 in Osaka.
- Kazuo Yamawaki
Page 141

FOCUS ASIAPACIFICDECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90

Filipinos in Kansai: Living Within Japanese Society
Jefferson R. PlantillaF

ilipinos constitute the thirdlargest group of foreigners inJapan with almost 250,000
population.1 23,000 of them
reside in the seven prefecturesof the Kansai region.2

Arrival in Kansai
From early 1920s till early
1940s, Filipino jazz musicians
were playing in Kobe andOsaka. Filipino male musicians
played in many entertainment
places around US military basesin Japan from the 1950s, but in
Kansai they started to arrive inbigger number from the 1970s
to the 1980s. At the end ofWorld War II, a number ofFilipino women married toJapanese men arrived in Kansai
from the Philippines (viaNagasaki) with their children.
From the 1980s to mid-2000s,
Filipino women as overseas
contract workers (popularly
known as entertainers) arrived
in big number. Many of them
became spouses of Japaneseand started residing in Kansai toraise families.
Supported by the booming
economy during the “bubble
e ra ” a n d t h e r e v i s i o n o f
Immigration Control andRefugee Recognition Act thattook effect in 1990, many
Japanese-descent Filipinos
along with Filipino technicalintern trainees came to Japan tosupply labor to the industries inincreasing number in the 1990s.
Nurses and caregivers started toarrive in Kansai under theJapan-Philippine Economic
Partnership Agreement (JPEPA)
from 2009. Almost at the sametime, Japanese-Filipino children
came to reside in Japan alongwith their Filipino mothers,some of whom were recruited
to work in hospitals andcaregiving institutions (such as
facilities for the elderly). And
from 2017, young Filipinos
aiming to work in the
caregiving industry in Kansai
started to arrive to study
Japanese language and prepare
for caregiving licensure
examinations. A few Filipinos
arrived in Kansai in 2017 fortraining on domestic help work
before deployment bycompanies to Japanesehouseholds.
On the other hand, since 1980s,
Filipinos have been arriving andresiding in Kansai as spouses,
professionals working in various
fields, religious missionaries,and students. There are Filipinos
working in international schools
in Hyogo and Osaka
prefectures; some teach inJapanese public and private
universities in Kansai; others
teach in English languages ch o o l s a n d a s A s s i s t a n t
Language Teachers in primaryand secondary schools. Some
Filipinos who studied in Kansai
eventually joined the academe
or worked in companies.
Filipino religious missionaries(priests, nuns, pastors) work in
Catholic and Christian churches

2

in many cities in Kansai; otherprofessionals (engineers or
those engaged in technical jobs)
come to Kansai for intracompany assignments or for
training.
The arrival of Filipinos in Kansai
continues due to a variety ofreasons – family, education andnew employment opportunities.
Living in Japanese Society
Filipinos do not reside as one
community in one place in
Kansai; they reside in the
different cities and towns of theregion. Among the permanentand long-term Filipino
residents, many are spouses,
parents and in-laws in Japanese(-Filipino) families. There arealso Filipino families living in
Kansai, many of whom areJapanese-descent Filipinos.
Japanese-Filipino children bornin Japan from late 1980s andearly 1990s have grown up andjoined the workforce; somehave families and children of
their own.
IssuesForeigners in Japan generally
suffer from problems regarding
the family, school, workplace,and relationships with fellow
foreigners and the Japanese.
The Association for Toyonaka
Multicultural Symbiosis(ATOMS), which has been
providing services to foreignFOCUS ASIAPACIFIC
residents in Toyonaka and other
cities for the past several
decades, lists the major
problems sought for
consultation by Filipinos inTable 1:3
SINAPIS (Social Action Centerof the Catholic Archdiocese of
Osaka) recorded similar
problems of foreigners ing e n e ra l : r e s i d e n c e s t a t u s ,welfare assistance, child-support
allowance, application forJapanese nationality, unpaid
wages, school/education
problems, legal support anddomestic violence.4
In general, the number ofdomestic violence cases inJapan rose when the economy
was not in good condition;5 andpoverty rate among single
parent families reached 55
percent in recent years.6
Family-related and economic
problems (such as irregularincome or unstable employmentof the Japanese spouses/
partners) are likely to cause
domestic violence against theFilipino wives/partners andchildren.
Domestic problems in turn leadto divorce. Some divorced
Filipinos suffer from lack offi n a n c i a l s u p p o r t f o r t h echildren from their former
husbands/partners. In case they
have no children, or do nothave custody of the children,
they may lose the permission tocontinue to stay in Japan.
Those who are able to change
their residence status andcontinue to stay in Japan may be
deprived of contact with theirchildren if they (children) are in
the custody of the Japaneseparents.

DECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90
Table 1. Issues Affecting Filipinos
Issues

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

1. Divorce

122

47

32

8

17

2. Child custody

74

73

28

2

1

3. Domestic Violence

24

1

21

27

19

4. Japanese citizenship acquisition

35

28

1

0

5. Unpaid wages

77

95

48

6. Other labor issues

15

3

14

5

6

7. Human rights violations

1

32

6

—-

—-

1

Source: Association for Toyonaka Multicultural Symbiosis (ATOMS)

Some Filipinos suffer from thelax “divorce by agreement”
system7 in Japan that allows
divorce applications to the local
government despite the absenceof one spouse. This results in theso-called “unwanted divorce,”
divorce without proper consent
by one of the spouses. A spousecan file a fraudulent divorce
application by using the hanko(personal seal) of one spouse
without permission, or by faking
the signature of the spouse. A
foreigner spouse may also be
tricked into signing a Japaneselanguage document without
knowing that it is a divorce
application. The local
government approves thefraudulent divorce application asa matter of course without
giving the absent spouse theopportunity to confirm thehanko or signature on the
document. The fraudulent
divorce application can include
a provision on the custody ofthe children, which can unfairly
deprive foreign spouses of theright to have the custody of thechildren or even contact them.
The approval of the fraudulent
divorce application remains
valid despite complaint ofunauthorized use of hanko or

3

fake signature.8 Affected foreign
spouses/partners have to resort
to a complicated judicial process
to remedy the situation.9
There are reports of risingnumber of “unwanted divorce.”
ATOMS, for example, received
69 “unwanted divorce”
complaints of foreigners by endof March 2015 and another 69
similar complaints at the end of
the year.10
Before 2008, Japanese-Filipino
children born outside of wedlock
whose Japanese fathers failed toacknowledge them before they
were born were not qualified to
become Japanese citizens underJapanese law. However, aSupreme Court decision in 2008
declared the relevant legal
provision unconstitutional andviolative of the international
human rights standards.11 The
Japanese parliament (Diet)
passed a law in the same year
revising that particular provisionof the Nationality Law based on
the decision of the Supreme
Court.12
The 2008 Supreme Court rulingand the subsequent amendmentof the Nationality Law opened

FOCUS ASIAPACIFIC
the door for Filipino parents ofJapanese-Filipino children (whoeither have Japanese citizenshipor qualified to apply for it) in
the Philippines to come andreside in Japan to take care of
the children. So-called“foundations” in the Philippines
offered to facilitate their visa
application as parents
accompanying their JapaneseFilipino children to live inJapan. They were also promised
jobs to support themselves.
Some of these parents wereg ive n wo r k i n c a r e g iv i n ginstitutions in Kansai, where
they stayed with their JapaneseFilipino children.
Two problems have arisen fromthis situation: labor exploitation
and welfare of the children. A
case in Osaka involved longhours of work and numerous
deductions from the salary of
the parents (mothers). They wereeven asked to sign a documentthat exempted the company
from any liability in case ofdeath.13 Some of the parents
sued the company in court fordamages, which ended with asettlement agreement.14
The other problem was on theadjustment of the JapaneseFilipino children to a totallynew environment. Research on
difficulties faced by JapaneseFilipino and Filipino children
studying in Japanese schools
reveals the following:15(1) Lack of Japanese language
proficiency that affects
communication with others
and learning capacity;(2) Maintaining relationships
with schoolmates who have“unfriendly attitude” tothem, keep distance fromthem after knowing each

DECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90
other, have different ways ofgetting along as friends, andin some cases bully them or
express prejudice againstthem;(3) Due to inadequate Japanese
language ability, uncertainty
about academic future after
lower secondary school(junior high school), or
worry about capacity toenroll in preferred university
course even if they canenter upper secondary
school;(4) Confusion on the different
school cultures and rules in
the Philippines and Japan
leading to actions that areallowed in the Philippines
being considered violationsof Japanese school rules;
some also feel pressured by
the strict rules in Japanese
schools;(5) New family environment
such as living with parents
they had not grown up withand the need to work parttime to help support thefamily (or themselves) affecttheir studies;(6) U s e o f F i l i p i n o a n dJapanese languages has not
led to mastery of any
language while learning theJapanese make them lose
their proficiency in Filipino
and English languages thateventually lead tocommunication gap with
their parents;(7) N e g a t i v e v i e w o f t h ePhilippines may cause themt o h i d e t h e i r Fi l i p i n oidentity, while those who
see their Filipino ancestry
positively have less worry
being so identified. Some of4them have trouble following
two value systems - Filipino
and Japanese.
Older long-time resident
Filipino women in Kansai
recognize the limitation broughtby their inability to read andwrite in Japanese. Though thejobs (low-paid, part-time work)
available to them do not match
their academic credentials, they
still consider them important.
Some have to work to support
themselves and/or their family(in Japan and also in thePhilippines). Some Filipino
spouses/mothers work as thesole income earner in the family
because of sick, irregularly
employed or deceased Japaneseh u s b a n d s / p a r t n e r s . Th e s ewomen also have to contend
with the often negative
stereotypes about Filipino
women that circulate inJapanese society.16
Other Issues
Filipinos who come to Kansai
under the Technical Intern
Training Program (TITP) are
deployed in companies in the
different prefectures of theregion. Many of these Filipino
t r a i n e e s ( o f fi c i a l l y c a l l e dtechnical intern trainees) seemto be working in small- andmedium-sized companies. There
are reports of abuses by thecompanies in terms of salarydeductions, overtime pay, andworking conditions (including
long working hours and lack ofsafety in the workplace). In
addition, they have to pay thehigh cost of accommodationand other needs (electricity andwater costs).17
Filipinos who come to Japan to
study Japanese language (and

FOCUS ASIAPACIFIC
caregiving for eventual work in
the caregiving industry) can beabused by the “school”
administrators by requiringthem to work in order to pay for
their supposed expenses. In one
case in Kyoto, several Filipinos
who paid for their travel toJapan to study were deployed towork beyond the allowed
number of hours of part-timework for foreign students. They
were also charged high fees foraccommodation (15 people in
one house) and other costs.
Responses to the Issues
The drastic reduction of thenumber of entertainer visas
issued to Filipinos did not
address the exploitation issues(ranging from labor to trafficking
problems) that affected them.
Neither has there beenadequate prosecution of those
who committed the abuses inJapan against the entertainers.18
From the 1980-1990 period(when exploitation ofentertainers was given more
attention) to the present (whenissues about Filipinos residing
in Japan on long-term or
permanent basis are the focus),
a number of Japanese NPOs
(non-profit organizations) andinternational centers have been
extending support to Filipinos in
Kansai. They provide a numberof services from consultation
service (personal visit or bytelephone) to legal and otherforms of assistance.19 Filipinos
and their children also avail of
local government-operated
shelters for victims of domestic
violence.20
Filipino individuals,
communities and organizations
provide various types of support

DECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90
to those in need of help; thePhilippine Consulate-General in
Osaka provides help through its
Assistance to Nationals (ATN)
program while the Philippine
Overseas Labor Office (POLO)
in Tokyo provides service to
Fi l i p i n o c o n t ra c t wo r k e r s
including trainees in Japan.
There is still much work to do tostem the tide of issues facing theFilipinos in Kansai. Largely
unexpressed in public, Filipinos
see the underlying
discriminatory attitude against
foreigners in the Japanesesociety as a factor to consider.
Jefferson R. Plantilla is the Chief
Researcher of HURIGHTSOSAKA.
For further information, pleasecontact HURIGHTS OSAKA.

Endnotes
1 According to the Japanese
government statistics, there
were 243,662 Filipinos inJapan as of end of December
2016, see % "#&' $* ' )        [Table 6. Age by prefecture.
Foreign nationals by gender(part 4 Philippines)], www.estat.go.jp/SG1/estat/
G L 0 8 0 2 0 1 0 3 . d o ?
_toGL08020103_&listID=0000
01177523&requestSender=dse
arch.
2 The Kansai region is composedof the following prefectures:
Mie, Shiga, Osaka, Kyoto,
Hyogo, Nara and Wakayama,
see “Kansai,” The Governmentof Japan, www.japan.go.jp/
regions/kansai.html. For thenumber of Filipinos residing ineach prefecture, visit e-Stat,www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/
List.do?lid=000001177523.

5

3 Information from( ! (Toyonaka
International Association
Consultation Project), received
by e-mail on 27 October 2017.
4 This list is based on 2015 data
supplied by SINAPIS via e-maildated 27 November 2017.
5 See David McNeil and Chie
Matsumoto, “Speaking out
about domestic violence,” The
Japan Times, 7 November
2009, www.japantimes.co.jp/
news/2009/11/07/national/
speaking-out-about-domesticviolence/#.WfFBNLpuIdU. See
also Gender Equality Bureau
C a b i n e t O f fi c e , Vi o l e n c e
Against Women, in Women and
Men in Japan 2017,www.gender.go.jp/
english_contents/pr_act/pub/
pamphlet/women-and-men17/
pdf/1-6.pdf.
6 See Anna Fifield, “In Japan, Single
Mothers Struggle with Poverty andWith Shame,” The Washington
Post, 28 May 2017,www.washingtonpost.com/world/
asia_pacific/in-japan-singlemothers-struggle-with-povertya n d - w i t h - s h a m e /2017/05/26/01a9c9e0-2a92-11e7-9081-f5405f56d3e4_story.html?
utm_term=.784de268cf81.
7 The court route for divorce is also
seen as lax because of its “’nontrial’ proceedings, with very loose
procedural and evidentiary
requirements,” and the lack of
power of the courts to enforce
their decisions in divorce
proceedings. See Colin P. A.
Jones, Divorce and Child CustodyIssues in the Japanese Legal
System, 1 February 2012, https://amview.japan.usembassy.gov/en/
divorce-law-in-japan/.
8 See for example an initiative toprevent this problem fromvictimizing foreign spouses in
RIKON ALERT (Action Groupfor Divorce by Agreement),
https://atoms9.wixsite.com/
rikon-alert/english.

FOCUS ASIAPACIFIC
9 Kyodo, “Law failing nonJapanese in forced divorces:
advisory group,” The JapanTi m e s , 4 M a r c h 2 0 1 6 ,www.japantimes.co.jp/news/
2016/03/04/national/socialissues/japanese-law-failingprevent-fraudulent-divorcesa d v o c a c y - g r o u p /#.WgJiFYhx0dU.
10 Kyodo, ibid.
11 T h i s p r o v i s i o n o f t h e
Nationality Law had been
criticized by the Japan
Federation of Bar Associations(JFBA) many years earlier forbeing discriminatory. See
Statement on Supreme Court
Ruling the Nationality Law
Unconstitutional,
www.nichibenren.or.jp/en/
document/statements/year/
2008/20080604.html.
12 The Nationality Law (Law No.
147 of 1950, as amended by
Law No. 268 of 1952, Law No.
45 of 1984, Law No. 89 of
1993 and Law. No. 147 of2004, Law No. 88 of 2008).
Source: Ministry of Justice,h t t p : / / w w w. m o j . g o . j p /ENGLISH/information/
tnl-01.html.
13 “Japan firm obliges Filipino
workers to waive its
responsibility for deaths,”
South China Morning Post, 13
July 2014, www.scmp.com/
news/asia/article/1553177/
japan-firm-obliges-filipinowomen-waive-itsresponsibility-deaths.
14 “ N u r s i n g c a r e fi r m t ocompensate 10 Filipino ex-staff
over harsh working
conditions,” Mainichi Japan, 3
Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 7 , h t t p : / /mainichi.jp/english/articles/
20170203/p2a/00m/0na/
020000c#csidx3336a2bd39de
6ec8b3f72be718c6804.
15 List provided via e-mail on 11
November 2017 by Kimi
Yamoto, based on her research

DECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90
on the school education ofJapanese-Filipino and Filipino
children and on the support
she has been providing to themin public schools for many
years.
16 M i c h e l l e G e d a n g O n g ,Growing old in an ageing
Ja p a n : Fi l i p i n a m i g ra n t s ’experiences and meaningmaking (2016) (draft).
17 Masami Ito, “Foreign trainee
system said still plagued byrights abuses,” The JapanTi m e s , 9 A p r i l 2 0 1 3 ,www.japantimes.co.jp/news/
2013/04/09/reference/foreigntrainee-system-said-stillp l a g u e d - by - r i g h t s - a b u s e s /#.WfKLbohx0dU; Kentaro
Iwamoto, “Abuses rampant inforeign trainee program, Japanlabor ministry finds,” Nikkei
Asian Review, 18 August 2016,
https://asia.nikkei.com/PoliticsEconomy/Economy/Abusesrampant-in-foreign-traineeprogram-Japan-labor-ministryfi n d s ; M a i n i c h i J a p a n ,"Editorial: Prevent abuses offoreign trainee program," 28November 2016,
http://
mainichi.jp/english/articles/
20161128/p2a/00m/0na/
021000c. Watch also thisvideo: “Used and abused:
Japan's foreign trainees,”
Fra n c e 2 4 , 2 0 1 7 - 0 6 - 0 9w w w. f r a n c e 2 4 . c o m / e n /20170609-focus-japan-foreigninterns-technical-traineesimmigration-labour-law-abuseexploitation. See also China
Labour Bulletin, Throw Away
Labour - The exploitation ofChinese "trainees" in Japan(Hong Kong, 2011), Institute for
Human Rights and Business,
Learning Experience? Japan's
Te ch n i c a l I n t e r n Tra i n i n g
Programme and the Challenge
of Protecting the Rights ofMigrant Workers, October
2017, www.ihrb.org/focusareas/mega-sporting-events/

6

japan-titp-migrant-workersrights.
18 See “Japan- 2017 Trafficking in
Persons Report,” US State
Department, www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/
2017/271213.htm and forstatistics on number of “clearedcases” and persons arrested on
trafficking charges see Gender
Equality Bureau Cabinet
Office, 6. Violence against
Women, Women and Men in
Japan 2017, page 16,
www.gender.go.jp/
english_contents/pr_act/pub/
pamphlet/women-and-men17/
pdf/1-6.pdf.
19 See "Breaking the Barrier:Japanese NGOs Take Up the
Challenge," FOCUS Asia-PacificN e w s l e t t e r , Vo l u m e 5 ,September
1996,
www.hurights.or.jp/archives/
focus/section2/1996/09/
breaking-the-barrier-japanesengos-take-up-thechallenge.html.
20 The 2001 Law on Prevention of
Spouse Violence andProtection of Victims required
the government to establish
facilities to help domestic
violence victims. See Miriam
Tabin, “Domestic Violence inJapan - Support Services andPsychosocial Impact on
Survivors,” FOCUS Asia-PacificN e w s l e t t e r , Vo l u m e 7 0
December
2012,
www.hurights.or.jp/archives/
focus/section2/2012/12/
domestic-violence-in-japan--support-services-andpsychosocial-impact-onsurvivors.html.

FOCUS ASIAPACIFICDECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90

Marriage Immigrants in Taiwan
Jun-Hong Chen

B

ased on the most recent datafrom the Ministry of theInterior (Taiwan), over 520,000
foreign spouses from China andSoutheast Asian countries havemarried Taiwanese since 1997.
They are mostly rural womenfrom poor families. Just likeeveryone else, they dream of a
happy marriage and a better
future. However, after arriving in
Taiwan, they realize that thewhole society holds a strong
tendency to treat them as“others.” Additionally, thecurrent immigration policies are
not supportive of the well-beingof marriage immigrants. With
access to available resources
and assistance mostly blocked,
marriage immigrants are
expected to adjust to the new
surroundings that are notfriendly to them. They face
many barriers including but notlimited to those related to legal,family stability, employment
opportunity, and mental healthmatters.
Hardships Encountered by
Immigrant Women
Marriage immigrants in Taiwan
suffer from a number ofproblems caused by the existinglaws and societal attitude.
1) Risk of becoming stateless
Article 9 of the Nationality Act
requires foreigners in applying
to become naturalizedTaiwanese citizens to submit a“certification of his/her loss ofprevious nationality.”1 Article 19of the law states that the
Ministry of Interior can revoke
such citizenship if thenaturalization application was
not in accordance with therequirements of the law (Article3). These provisions of the law
have been applied to marriage
immigrants. In a number ofcases, the Ministry of Interiorr e v o k e d t h e i r Ta i w a n e s e
citizenship after court
conviction for committing
fraudulent marriage. However,this legal application ignores the
problems in fraudulent marriage
cases. Many marriage
immigrants suffer from language
barrier, lack of information andknowledge about the laws in
Taiwan as well as lack of legal
assistance for their defense incourt. Anyone (including inlaws and friends) can reportthem for any reason to thepolice for having fraudulent
marriage. Furthermore, theMinistry of Interior still revoked
their Taiwanese citizenship evenwhen the courts had ruled thatthey should not be so penalized
because they committed very
minor acts of fraud. In thesecases, the immigrants had
genuine marriages but they lied
about their age on the marriage
certificate or other documents.
The revocation of citizenship by
the Ministry of Interior to punish
petty crime offenders is notjustified. This penalty results instatelessness of the affectedmarriage immigrants. Other
available penalties should be
used instead.

72) Violation of the right to family
reunion
Under Article 31 of the
Immigration Act, divorced
foreign spouses can continue toreside in Taiwan if they 1) havethe guardianship of theirchildren or 2) have been
judicially declared divorced on
ground of domestic violenceand have minor children. The
children should have permanent
residence status in both cases.2
And if the foreign spouses don o t m e e t t h e fi n a n c i a lrequirement to become
naturalized Taiwanese citizen,
they can only legally reside in
Taiwan until their children reachthe age of 20.
Foreigners who want to stay in
Taiwan for a long time canapply for an alien permanent
residence rather than seek
Taiwanese citizenship. Once theapplication is approved, theyreceive the alien permanent
residence certificate (APRC).
Foreigners who have obtained
permanent residence cancontinue to reside in Taiwan
without getting married andregardless of their employment,
study or similar statuses. This
saves them the trouble of having
to extend their residence permit
every one or three years. Apartfrom these advantages, however,having an APRC does not confer
any other tangible rights. Since
APRC holders are not Taiwanesecitizens and do not have

FOCUS ASIAPACIFIC
citizen’s identity cards, they do
not enjoy the rights of citizens.
M a r r i a g e i m m i g ra n t s wh oobtained Taiwanese citizenshipshould obtain citizen’s identity
card to guarantee theirenjoyment of the rights ofcitizens including continued
stay in Taiwan. Unfortunately,some families of Taiwanesespouses intentionally keep theimmigrant spouses under theircontrol by not helping them get
the citizen’s identity card, andthis has given rise to manyc o n fl i c t s
andmisunderstandings.
3) Flawed Interpretation Services
Th e g ove r n m e n t s h o u l dundertake a thorough review ofthe various types ofinterpretation services bothwithin each agency and in aninteragency setting, andestablish a comprehensive set ofstandard operating proceduresfor each type of interpretation
services, as well as rules inensuring respect for theinterpreters’ labor rights.
Funding should be allocated, in
accordance with Article 7 of
Taiwan’s Act to Implement theInternational Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights and theInternational Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights,todevelopcomprehensive training andcertification standards fordifferent forms of interpretation
services, as well as service
quality evaluations andproofreading mechanism fortranslated judicial documents.
Besides, there is no clear anduniform mandate among
government agencies for the
allocation of sufficient budget to

DECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90
train, provide and manageinterpretation services; variousa g e n c i e s h av e t h e i r o w n
regulations regarding theprovision of interpretation
services. As a result, central
government agencies, local
governments, the police and thelegal aid system often findthemselves short oninterpretation services capacity.
Interpretation services not only
ensure the foreigners’ rights as
accused, they also directly
affect a person’s right to life,
liberty and property, as well asother rights in matters such as
medical service and household
registration. Taiwan’s lack ofcomprehensive interpretation
system is not only inconsistent
with International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR), but also a violation of
the due process principle in amodern state.
4) The stigmatization of marriage
immigrants
Some people regard immigrant
women as “gold diggers” andcharacterize them as “social
problems” because theyq u e s t i o n t h e i r ( i m m i g ra n t
wo m e n ’s ) a b i l i t y t o ra i s echildren and their loyalty inmarriage. People call them
“Foreign Brides” which implies
pervasive xenophobia anddiscrimination against marriage
i m m i g ra n t wo m e n . Th e
immigrant women are not only
seen as "outsiders" but also as
Taiwanese men’s subordinates.
The gender stereotype
intertwined with Chinese
ethnocentrism make immigrant
women, who occupy a lower
socio-economic position, thevoiceless minority in Taiwanesesociety.

8

Needed Social and Legal
SupportTh e Tr a n s A s i a S i s t e r s
Association, Taiwan (TASAT)
was established on 7 December
2003. However, its origin dates
back to the “Foreign Brides
Chinese Literacy Program” thatwas founded at Meinung,Kaohsiung in 1995. The literacy
program was founded on theidea that learning Chinese
empowers immigrant women to
speak for themselves and toform their own organization tofight for their rights. TASAT has
the objective of helping
immigrant women break awayfrom isolation and become an
active participant in society. It
adopted this motto: For living,
For Being, For Human Rights.
Three of the immigrant staffs of
TASAT do not only attend the
advocacy training workshops,
but also help organize press
conferences. Organizing press
conferences requires good
coordination with other NGOs,
knowledge of the issues, andability to write press releases. In
the beginning, the marriage
immigrants are asked to speak
only for one minute due to theirlimited Chinese language
capacity. After one year, they
begin to take turns in hosting
the press conference. This not
only shows the abilities gained
from the previous trainings but
also transforms them into
enthusiastic advocates. One
TASAT immigrant staff, VuochHeang Lee, said, “Taking on
advocacy work sounds very
intimidating, but I experience
the happiest and [also] the mostpainful learning journey in
TASAT. I think I will keep going
because the more I challenge
myself, the more I grow.”

FOCUS ASIAPACIFIC
On the other hand, TASAT
continuously organizesmusicals, theatrical events or
public speeches that involve
immigrant women from different
countries. It tries very hard to let
the immigrant women knowthat they are by no meansi n c o m p e t e n t . Th e s u d d e nchange of environment andChinese ethnocentrism deprive
them of voice and talents.
Through these activities, TASAT
is able to attract a few marriage
immigrants to join the trainings.
Maybe they join TASAT because
they like to perform in front of
the audience. However, these
activities are definitely making
them learn more issues
concerning their rights.
Policy and Law Reforms
TASAT has been actively linking
with other organizations to
advocate for policy and law
reforms. With government plan
to enact laws to regulate andrestrict the new immigrants,
TA S AT a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n sworking on women, workers
and human rights issues formed
the Alliance for Human Rights
Legislation for Immigrants andMigrants (AHRLIM) on 12
December 2003.
In March 2005, AHRLIM sent its
own proposals to Parliament on
the amendment of the
Immigration Act, which was
passed in November 2007. The
amendment has better
preventive provisions on
domestic violence and humantrafficking victims, an absolute
ban on profit-oriented marriage
brokers, anti-discrimination
provisions, etc.
In November 2008, after several
years of efforts, the Ministry of

DECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90
Interior finally relaxed thefi n a n c i a l p r o o f o f N T $5,000,000 (USD 166,666) for
immigrant women as one of then a t u ra l i z a t i o n a p p l i c a t i o nrequirements.
In September 2011, the Councilof Labor Affairs’ strict
interpretation of the
Employment Services Act was
relaxed. Before the amendment
to the Employment Services Act,widowed, divorced immigrant
women or those who do nothave children, could not workin Taiwan. Now foreign spouses
who have permission to residein Taiwan can apply directly to
the Council for a work permit.
In December 2016, Article 4 of
the Nationality Law wasamended to recognize the rightto apply for naturalization by
divorced foreign spouses whoare victims of domestic
violence, widowed foreign
spouses and those who support
or have obligations to perform
on behalf of Taiwanese children.
However, the widowed spouses
must remain in contact with
their in-laws after becoming
naturalized citizens.
Concluding Notes
Not every immigrant has the
chance to start a new life inanother country smoothly.
TASAT aims to help immigrants
pursue that goal. In a whole
new environment, they need toconquer serious hardships that
Taiwanese citizens barely
imagine or experience. These
hardships involve, but notlimited to, the legal system,
cultural and language gaps,
stereotypes, discrimination, andthe stress resulting from theinterplay of these hardships.

9

Although TASAT’s current efforts
to fully improve the well-beingof the immigrants are limited, it
still fights for it.
Jun-Hong Chen is the Executive
Secretary of TransAsia Sisters
Association, Taiwan (TASAT).
For further information pleasec o n t a c t : Tra n s A s i a S i s t e r s
Association, Taiwan (TASAT),
234, Zhongxiao Street, YongheDistrict, New Taipei City; ph(886-2) 29210565, fax (886-2)
29217501;
e-mail:tasat.taipei@gmail.com; http://tasat.org.tw/immigration_rights/
all.
Endnotes
1

2

See Nationality Act, Ministry ofInterior, Republic of China( T a i w a n ) ,www.moi.gov.tw/english/englis
h_law/law_detail.aspx?sn=82.
See Immigration Act, National
I m m i g r a t i o n A g e n c y,www.immigration.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1096847&ctNode=300
26&mp=2.

FOCUS ASIAPACIFICDECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90

The Labor Movement in Malaysia
Charles Hector

In Malaysia, the trade union
movement seems to be
weakening due to decreasing
number of unions and union
membership. Of the estimated
14.6 million workers, nearly
925,000 workers are union
members as of 2017.1 In thep r i va t e s e c t o r, u n i o nmembership declined from376,362 in 2014 to 354,313 in2017.2mechanism that does not reallyimpact their business andprofits; the workers and unions
remain as victims.

Issues with the Labor Unions

The trade union movement has
accepted the “limitations”
i m p o s e d o n t h e m by t h eauthorities, and chose to survive
within the “limited space”
provided by a strong adherence
to the law, even if that law isunjust. The labor movement has
also made very little effort toreach out to the Malaysian
public, Members of Parliament,
State Assemblypersons and
Senators for help in the fight forjustice.

When violations of workers’ andt ra d e u n i o n r i g h t s o c c u r,
Malaysian labor unions sadly do
not choose to struggle throughpickets, strikes or campaigns
against employers and instead
use the lengthy administrativeand judicial processes by
lodging complaints. As an
example, the trial at theIndustrial Court of the case of
Wan Noorulazhar (President of
the Electronic Industry
Employees Union Western
Region, Peninsular Malaysia)
who was wrongfully terminatedon 26 August 2011 started onlyin April 2017. It is difficult totell when the trial stage would
end, and appeals to the High
Court and the Court of Appeal
can happen. Getting effective
remedies (those that have
impact on employers and/or
instrumental in bringing
changes in laws) from the courts
is another issue.
Employers favor this method of“industrial dispute” resolution

Tr a d e u n i o n s h a v e b e e ncontrolled by laws, first imposedby the British colonial
government and continued after
Independence by UMNOdominated coalition
government – today known as
the Barisan Nasional.

Since 1998, Malaysians
generally have become braver
and started to come out in muchlarger number in peacefulassemblies to protest
wrongdoings and demandchanges. But alas, this has not
moved the trade union
movement or workers to do thesame – despite the continued
erosion of workers’ and tradeunion rights.
What happened in the 2015
Malaysian Airlines case, which
involved the dismissal of about
6,000 workers, is an indication

10of the state of the labor
movement in the country. Withthe 10,000 (maybe even closer
to 20,000) airline workers being
mostly unionized, not a single
mass protest or picket involving
thousands of union members
happened.
Labor Issues
Malaysia continues with its“divide and rule” policy on
trade unions – permitting unions
based on occupation, sector
and industry, and disallowing
the formation of unions orfederation of unions acrossdifferent sectors, industry andoccupation. Workers in theprivate and public sectors arestill prevented from becoming
members of common unions.
The Malaysian Trade Union
Congress (MTUC) and theCongress of Unions of
Employees in the Public andCivil Services Malaysia(CUEPACS) continue to beregistered as “societies.”
Decades ago, Malaysia justified
the control of the trade union
movement as a necessity inattracting foreign investors to set
up factories in the country andhence create more jobs andincrease income. In otherwords, low wages and passive
wo r k f o rc e m a d e M a l ay s i aattractive to foreign investment;
and the absence of strike foralmost four decades was seen as
positive.

FOCUS ASIAPACIFICDECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90

Malaysian trade union andlabor laws fall far short of theminimum international humanrights and workers’ rights
standards. Malaysia has to makesignificant amendments to its
labor laws in order to comply
with Chapter 19 on labor of thedraft Trans-Pacific Partnership
Agreement (TPPA). The aborted
draft “Malaysia–United States
Labour Consistency Plan,” a“bilateral instrument inaccordance with Chapter 19 of
the TPP Agreement” has a long
list of “legal reforms, and otherchanges that may be required toensure consistency across its
Acts, regulations and othermeasures.”3 After the UnitedStates decided to leave the TPPAin early 2017, the remaining
eleven member-states decided
to adopt a new free trade
agreement in November 2017.
Malaysia hopefully would
amend its labor laws
subsequently.

This situation sadly suggests that
Malaysia may not even beinterested in protecting theexisting workers’ and tradeunion rights.

Th e M i n i s t r y o f H u m a n
Resources Statistics on
Employment and Labour( S t a t i s t i k Pe k e r j a a n d a n
Perburuhan) has the power toinspect and enforce workers’
and trade union rights,
occupational safety and healthrights. But there has been no
available information on theaction taken on this inspectionand enforcement power. The
inspections must be done
randomly and/or based onreceipt of information from any
sources. Many employers tend
to terminate workers who lodge
formal complaints, and thus
avoid being penalized forviolation of labor law. Under
this situation, waiting for theworkers to file complaints
before the government takes
action becomes unreasonable.

Since the struggle for rights
always has risks, will Malaysian
workers and trade unions
maintain the current situation orwill they wake up and fight for
better realization of theworkers’ and trade union rights– and a re-emergence of astrong labor movement in
Malaysia?

Union busting continues by
having union leaders easily
terminated for issuing publicstatements, while union
members are also terminated forsending memorandum toelection candidates to get theircommitment to struggle forbetter protection of workers’
rights. Workers participating inlegal pickets are arrested for“ m a k i n g n o i s e .” U n i o nregistration, and “recognition”
processes are delayed, notexpedited, not just bygovernment bodies, but also by
allowing long drawn-out
litigation initiated by employers
in court challenging even the
Minister’s decisions.

strengthening of the labor
movement?
There are about 14.6 million
workers in a country of 30
million plus population, and assuch they have much powerand say in not just the future of
the labor movement, but also
Malaysia. If a 100,000-strong
FELDA settlers and their families
could make their rights andwelfare a major national
concern, why could not themuch more numerous workers
and union members make their
voice heard?
Charles Hector is human rights
defender and lawyer.
For further information, pleasecontact: Charles Hector at
easytocall@gmail.com.
Endnotes

Way Forward

Without highlighting wrongs,
violations and struggles forbetter protection of rights, thepublic will not know the labor
issues and concerns involved
and the government andemployers will not be pressured
to protect workers’ and tradeunion rights in Malaysia. Will
the Malaysian political parties
adopt a policy expressing
commitment to improving therights of workers and the11

1 Data from Ministry of Human
Resources, Employment andLabour Statistics.
2 Data from Ministry of Human
Resources, Employment andLabour Statistics.
3 See the list of labor issues thatneeded legal reform under theaborted “Malaysia–United States
LabourConsistency
Plan” (November 2015), https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/TPPFinal-Text-Labour-US-MY-LaborConsistency-Plan.pdf.

FOCUS ASIAPACIFICDECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90

People and Profits: UP IHR’s Guide on BHR for NGOs
Voltaire J. Veneracion and Agni Mentaki Tripodi

On 23-27 October 2017, theO p e n - E n d e dIntergovernmental Working
Group (OEIGWG) held its third
session seeking to deliberate on
the content, scope, nature andform of a binding international
instrument to regulate thea c t iv ities of transn ational
corporations and other businessenterprises.1 SOMO, the Dutchn o n - p r o fi t c e n t e r o nmultinational corporations,
reported the huge turn-out of
hundreds of “representatives ofcivil society organizations, tradeunions and affected
communities coming from every
corner of the globe,” in the
OEIGWG sessions that
demonstrated the crucial rolethat civil society could play inhigh-level decision-making.2

While the provisional report ofthe session that was adopted byconsensus on the third session’s
last day did not conclude that
there would be a fourth session
in 2018 to start substantive
negotiations on the text of the
future treaty, it did request theC h a i r- R a p p o r t e u r t o h o l dinformal consultations with
S t a t e s a n d o t h e r r e l e va n t
s t a k e h o l d e r s o n t h e w ay
forward.3
In 2015, when the University of
the Philippines Institute of
Human Rights (UP IHR) began
its program of consultation withstakeholders and developmentof publication on Business andHuman Rights (BHR), mostPhilippine academic institutions
and non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) lacked
publications and other resources
o n B H R t h a t c o u l d h av e
enabled them to substantiallycontribute to national, regional
and international discussions onbinding treaties such as the one
envisioned above.

UP IHR, under the Directorshipof Professor Elizabeth AguilingPangalangan, engaged theservices of the authors as
consultants to find out the needsof the different sectors in the
country and develop apublication for local readers on
this emergent interdisciplinary
field of human rights. UP IHR
sought to build the capacity ofFilipino organizations andcommunities on using theUnited Nations Guiding
Principles on Business andHuman Rights: Implementing

12

the United Nations 'Protect,
Respect and Remedy'
Framework (UNGP) as a tool toadvocate for the respect andprotection of human rights ineconomic and businessendeavors, should they so wish.
Participative Consultations
In 2015 and 2016, during UP
IHR’s participatory consultations
on BHR, the authors confirmedthat the Philippine governmentand business associations andchambers of commerce in the
country had yet to make apublic statement specificallyreferring to the UNGP. While
the Philippine government had
endeavored to protect migrant
wo r k e r s a n d fi g h t h u m a n
trafficking, it had not provided
businesses, including those inareas affected by conflict, withguidance on how to respecthuman rights whether throughencouragement, incentive or
regulation.4
While we learned from civilsociety organization (CSO)
participants about the Human
Rights Impact Assessment(HRIA) of a local mining
operation in 2013 by German
NGO MISEREOR and its local
partners,5 most academic
institutions and civil society
organizations in the Philippines
had yet to use UNGP incompany research anda dv o c a cy a n d c o n d u c t athoroughly documented HRIA
of a business operation.

FOCUS ASIAPACIFIC
Participants from all three
consultations held saw thebenefit of training and gaining
access to tools for conducting ageneral human rights check andaddressing adverse humanrights impacts.
Guide on BHR
Consultation participants also
gave presentations on UNGP
and received feedback on a
draft toolkit for assessing
company compliance with
UNGP that project research
associates Ruth Guinto andChristopher Edward Nuevo
helped prepare using many
BHR references that author
Mentaki Tripodi discovered
while doing research for her
postgraduate thesis. Various
sectors affirmed the need for an
UP IHR publication that
explained BHR in the Philippine
context, such that after finishing
the consultations, UP IHR
a c c e p t e d o u r t e a m ’s
recommendation to develop
such a local publication for civilsociety organizations.
Oxfam Southeast Asia helped
our BHR team get access toO x f a m ’s t o o l k i t , t h eCommunity-Based Human
Rights Impact Assessment(COBHRA), and invited
Veneracion to attend its BHR
Workshop in Jakarta, Indonesia
to learn how to use it, as well asother HRIA tools.
Upon the suggestion of UP
College of Law Professor Evelyn“Leo” Battad, we added an
introduction to human rights ingeneral. She explained that inher experience as a lawyer ofFree Legal Assistance Group( F L AG ) , m a ny a c t iv i s t s ,campaigners, and community
leaders knew little about human

DECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90
rights and could benefit fromlearning about its history andbasic principles before any
discussion on BHR.
In mid-2017, we finishedwriting our book People andProfits: A Guide on Businessand Human Rights for NGOs
(UP Law Center: 2017) with theintention of promoting anawareness and understanding of
UNGP - both its strengths andpoints for improvement - in thePhilippines so that thePhilippine government would
be aware of its duty to protect
human rights; companies, of
their duty to respect them; andcivil society organizations andcommunities of their humanrights in relation to business
operations.
Book Launching
Last 30 August 2017, UP Law
Center hosted the launch of thebook at Malcolm Hall Faculty
Lounge, College of Law, UP
Diliman. IHR Director Prof.
Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangandelivered welcome remarks; theauthors made presentations on
UNGP; former UP Law Dean
(now International Criminal
Court Judge) Raul C.
Pangalangan, Commissioner
Roberto Eugenio T. Cadiz of thePhilippine Commission on
Human Rights, and Bantay
Dagat and Philippine
MISEREOR Partnership LegalC o u n s e l M a r i o M a d e ra z oprovided expert reactions to thenew publication; and UP Law
Associate Dean Concepcion
Jardaleza delivered the closing
remarks.
People and Profits provides anintroduction to human rights ingeneral; UNGP’s history and the13three pillars, as well as
developments in theirimplementation prior to thethird session of OEIGWG on alegally binding treaty; andframeworks and links to anassessment tool for company
compliance with UNGP and
HRIA tools.
The authors and the rest of UP
IHR hope that through People
and Profits Philippine civilsociety can better lobby withgovernment and the businesssector for the development of a
National Action Plan andsupport the implementation of
the ASEAN Regional Strategy toPromote Corporate Social
Responsibility and Human
Rights (2016), as well as engage
constructively in discussions
and consultations on a legallybinding instrument on BHR ininternational forums.
Voltaire J. Veneracion is a
Filipino attorney-at-law andsocial entrepreneur. He has
been the lead researcher for UP
I H R ’s p r o j e c t s i n v o l v i n g
w o m e n ’s r i g h t s a n d t h eConvention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW); theUnited Nations Guiding
Principles on Business andHuman Rights; capital
punishment; and the security of
Human Rights Defenders. Write
him at vveneracion@gmail.com.
Agni Mentaki Tripodi is a Greek
marketer by profession whopracticed International
Management for over 11 years
and received a masteral degreewith a thesis on Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR),(Continued on page 15)

FOCUS ASIAPACIFICDECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90

General Assembly on Buraku Liberation Research
Kazuo YamawakiT

he 51st General Assemblyon Buraku Liberation
Research, held in Osaka city on
6-8 November 2017, focusedonsupportingtheimplementation of the 2016 Act
on the Promotion of the
Elimination of Buraku
Discrimination (APEBD), andpromoting cooperation for theelimination of all forms of
discrimination and theestablishment of legal systems
on human rights. The 2017conference dealt with thedevelopments on measurestaken to address thediscrimination against Buraku
people. 1 More than 5,000
people participated in theconference including local
government officials, membersof the prefectural parliament,
educators, representatives ofcorporations, members of labor
unions, representatives of
Buraku liberation communities,
researchers, activists, membersof religious organizations, ands t u d e n t s . Fo l l ow i n g a r esummaries of two sessions on
issues regarding APEBD.
Law on Buraku Discrimination

Shigeru Sumitani, former Chiefof the Office of Regional
Improvement Measures
Management and Coordination
Agency, explained Japan’scurrent severe human rights
situation by presenting statistics
on disabled people’s low
employment rate and poorsocial inclusion, and the slow

progress on the rehabilitation offormer offenders for their reentry into society.
He noted that the discrimination
against the Buraku people wasone of the biggest human rights
issues in Japan that had notbeen sufficiently dealt with by
the government (including local
governments) after the
expiration of two special
measures laws in March 2002.2
As a result, people lost interest
in Dowa policies and lacked
knowledge in dealing with
Buraku issues as shown in the2012 “Opinion Survey
Regarding Human Rights.”
He cited examples of thecurrent discrimination practices
such as 1) discrimination in
employment, 2) land-related
discrimination, 3) marriage
discrimination, and 4) internet
and other new forms of

14

discrimination. The latest formsof Buraku discriminationconsisted of the lack of humanrights education andknowledge, lack of selfawareness of human rights
abuses, and the emotional
backlash against human rights.
Regarding APEBD, he stressed 1)
the need to recognize the basic
reasons of the law, 2) the
limitation on the effectiveness of
the law due to the fact that it
only provided for legal
principles, and 3) the explicit
declaration of the existence of
Buraku discrimination and theduties of national and local
governments on the problem.
He suggested key componentsof "a society free of Buraku
discrimination": 1) the
improvement of the consultation
system of local governments; 2)
re-organization of the human

FOCUS ASIAPACIFIC
rights education and awarenessraising program; and 3) holdingof a national survey on Buraku
discrimination by thegovernment.
In conclusion, he noted thatsolving the Dowa problem
would lead directly to theimprovement of the state ofhuman rights in Japan as awhole, and suggested concrete
community development
strategies based on social
inclusion.
Future Challenges
Fujihiko Nishijima, theSecretary-General of the
Headquarters of the Buraku
Liberation League (BLL),
explained the progress on thelegal steps taken since 1965
when the Dowa Policy Council
Report3 was released. He also
discussed the background andcontents of the report of Human
Rights Protection Council(founded in 1997) and how the"Human Rights Protection Billand the draft Bill on the
Establishment of the Human
Rights Commission" based on

People and Profits: UP IHR’s
Guide on BHR for NGOs
(Continued from page 13)
specifically, on BHR and theimplementation of UNGP in thepharmaceutical sector. Write her
at agniment@gmail.com.
For further information, pleasecontact: UP Institute of Human
Rights (UP IHR) at telephone
number +63-2-9205514 local
205; ihrclaw@gmail.com.

DECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 90
this report were once decided
upon and then withdrawn by
the Cabinet.
He further explained the actions
at the Diet (parliament) that led
to the enactment of APEBD in
December 2016 and theconcrete developments sincethen.

Finally, Mr Nishijima showed
the materials of BLL on how toparticipate in the hearings ofrelevant Ministries regarding
Article 6 of APEBD.
Kazuo Yamawaki is the VicePresident of HURIGHTSOSAKA.

He also pointed out that,beyond legal principles towardt h e p r o m o t i o n o f B u ra k uliberation, there should bethorough public awarenessraising efforts about relevant
policies, and appropriate
measures enacted by prefecturalassemblies and adopted by the
local governments. He
suggested several measures tohelp implement the law such as
lobbying local governments toadopt good practices on
addressing discrimination
against the Buraku people,
adopting guides on how tolobby the Ministries using
Articles 4, 5, and 6 of the law,and suggesting guidelines forlobbying political parties andthe government.

For further information, pleasecontact HURIGHTS OSAKA.

Endnotes

ASEAN: A Baseline Study (May2013), http://hrrca.org/businessand-human-rights-in-asean-abaseline-study/ (last accessedon 4 December 2017).
5 Brigitte Hamm, Anne Schax andChristian Scheper, Human
Rights Impact Assessment of theTampakan Copper-Gold Project,
Mindanao, Philippines(Germany, Misereor: 2013).

1 United Nations Office of theHigh Commissioner for Human
Rights website, www.ohchr.org/
EN/HRBodies/HRC/
WGTransCorp/Session3/Pages/
Session3.aspx (last accessed on
4 December 2017).
2 SOMO website: www.somo.nl/
development-un-treatybusiness-human-rights-movingnew-phase/ (last accessed on 4
December 2017).
3 Ibid.
4 Human Rights Resource Center,
Business and Human Rights in

15

Endnotes
1 Read the “Buraku Problem Q &A” of the Buraku Liberation and
Human Rights ResearchInstitute for more informationon the discrimination against
Japanese called Buraku people,
www.blhrri.org/old/blhrri_e/
Q_and_A/question.htm.
2 Act on Special Measures for
Dowa Projects and the Act on
Financial Measures for Area
I m p r ove m e n t , b o t h w e r eenacted in 1969.
3 See “Buraku Problem Q & A”
for more information on the
Dowa Policy Council Report,
www.blhrri.org/old/blhrri_e/
Q_and_A/A012.htm.

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HURIGHTS OSAKA, inspired by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, formally opened in December 1994. lt has the following goals: 1) to promote human rights
in the Asia- Pacific region; 2) to convey Asia-Pacific perspectives on human rights to the international
community; 3) to ensure inclusion of human rights principles in Japanese international cooperative activities; and 4) to raise human rights awareness among the people in Japan in meeting its growing internationalization. In order to achieve these goals, HURIGHTS OSAKA has activities such as Information Handling, Research and Study, Education and Training, Publications, and Consultancy Services.
FOCUS Asia-Pacific is designed to highlight significant issues and activities relating to human rights in
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