Japan enacts controversial law to accept foreign workers

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition early
Saturday rammed through legislation to bring more blue-collar
foreign workers into the country, in a controversial move to
address chronic labour shortages.

The bill was enacted after the upper house gave approval despite
a raft of criticism by opposition parties following its passage
through the lower house in late November. Both chambers are
controlled by Abe’s ruling camp.

Under the new system, the government plans to bring in as many
as 345,000 foreign workers in construction, food services, nursing
and other designated sectors for five years.

“We aim at starting it in April next year because we need to
swiftly launch the new system in order to deal with the current
labour shortage,” Abe told parliament on Thursday.

But opposition parties claimed that the law fails to address the
potential impact on Japanese society of new foreign labour, and
does not protect foreign workers’ rights.

In a bid to block its passage, opposition parties submitted
censure motions against Abe and Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita,
but they were easily rejected by the ruling bloc.

The law allows foreign nationals with skills in sectors facing
particularly severe shortages to obtain five-year visas, which
would not allow them to bring their families.

Foreign workers in those fields who hold stronger qualifications
and pass a more difficult Japanese language test will be able to
obtain a visa that can be extended indefinitely, eventually leading
to residency, and will be able to bring over family.

But there have been questions about whether an influx of foreign
workers will depress wages, how the workers will be incorporated
into Japan’s social security system, and worries about exploitation
of migrant labour.

Many of Japan’s low-skilled foreign workers are in the country
under a so-called “technical training” programme, which has
repeatedly faced allegations of abuse.

“We should not create a new system hastily without reviewing the
technical training programme in which problems are mounting,”
Yoshifu Arita, an opposition lawmaker, told parliament.

Businesses have long lobbied for looser immigration rules,
saying they struggle to find workers in a country where
unemployment hovers around 2.5 percent.

The chronic labour shortages are only worsening as Japan’s
ageing and shrinking population means a declining pool of
workers.
(AFP)

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