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Japan may name firms illegally hiring foreign trainees

Workers from West Java march to foreign embassies, such as Japan and South Korea, in Jakarta on December 5, 2012 during a protest against the outsourcing of work by multi-national companies. (AFP)
Workers from West Java march to foreign embassies, such as Japan and South Korea, in Jakarta on December 5, 2012 during a protest against the outsourcing of work by multi-national companies. (AFP)
12 Nov 2019 03:11:41 GMT9
12 Nov 2019 03:11:41 GMT9

Tokyo

Japan will consider disclosing the names of companies that illegally employ foreign technical trainees who fled their initial workplaces, the Immigration Services Agency said Tuesday.

The measure is included in a policy package to prevent foreign trainees from fleeing that was released by the agency.

In January-June, 4,499 foreign trainees fled the companies that accepted them, and went missing, up by 256 year on year, according to the agency.

Foreign trainees often receive bad treatment from the companies where they are trained, such as failures to pay for their work.

In addition, many trainees face pressure to pay off massive debt owed to the organizations in their home countries that sent them to Japan.

Against the background, many trainees flee their initial workplaces to get better-paying jobs illegally.

The package includes penalty for trainee-sending organizations in home countries, licensed trainee supervisory bodies in Japan and companies that accept trainees if they are found responsible for the fleeing of trainees. The entities will be suspended from newly sending or accepting trainees.

The package also has a rule requiring trainees’ residence card numbers to be registered so as to make it easier to find trainees if they flee.

At a press conference Tuesday, Justice Minister Masako Mori pledged to ensure that the government manages the foreign trainee program appropriately.

Meanwhile, the issue of missing foreign students came into the spotlight when it was found that many students at Tokyo University of Social Welfare went missing.

According to agency and other sources, 1,610 foreign students of the university went missing between fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2018.

The government has decided not to give for the time being the residency status of student to those who are newly admitted to university but not as regular undergraduates.

Jiji Press

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