TOKYO: More than 7,000 people gathered near the United Nations University in Tokyo on Saturday before marching to the trendy Shibuya district to demonstrate against immigration reforms currently under discussion in parliament. 

Students from the prestigious Keio and Waseda universities were among those taking part in the demonstration.

The reforms, which have not yet been finally adopted by the Japanese parliament, are arousing controversy because,according to the opposition parties, they do not comply with the criteria of international human rights relating to the status of refugees.

Opposition politicians have been demanding that political refugees who apply for visas should have recourse to a judicial authority independent of the immigration services, who decide on the granting or refusal of refugee status. They are also asking for an amnesty for people without visas who have been staying in Japan for a long time and who work and have families.

The family of the young Sri Lankan woman Wishma Sandamari,who died in a detention center in Nagoya after being refused medical treatment, gave a speech before the start of the demonstration. Wishma’s two sisters criticized remarks by politician UMEMURA Mizuho of the Innovation Party, who implied that Wishma was responsible for her own death and refused to apologize for his remarks.