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The government submitted to the Diet on Friday a bill to grant foreign blue-collar work rights as part of a major policy change for Japan, which until now has largely restricts the imported workforce.
The bill would create a new visa status. to accept foreign workers in various sectors considered very inadequate, ranging from construction to agriculture through nursing. The system, under certain conditions, could allow them to live permanently in Japan.
"Labor shortages are starting to become a major factor hindering economic growth, we are going to create an appropriate system," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliamentary committee
Japan has mainly recruited highly qualified professionals in fields such as medicine and law, while welcoming only a very small number of refugees. But he now needs more foreign labor because of his rapidly aging population and low birth rate.
The government wants to pbad the bill to amend the Immigration Control Act during the current parliamentary session until December 10 to introduce the new program from April to September. next April
Opposition parties will intensify their offensive against the government over the bill, which they say lacks details, including the number of workers accepted. They also say that the proposed new system will effectively end Japan 's restrictive immigration position.
In the proposed system, two types of residency status for non-Japanese workers should be created for 14 sectors.
The first type, valid for up to five years, will be given to those with the knowledge and experience required to work in a specific field. In principle, they will not be allowed to bring their family members to Japan.
The second type will be for foreign nationals needed in fields requiring much more advanced skills. The government is not planning to limit the number of visa renewals and will allow family members to accompany the workers, giving them the opportunity to live permanently in Japan.
The government argued, however, that the introduction of the new system is not tantamount to "accepting immigrants indefinitely" and does not signal a change in immigration policy.
The Minister of Justice, Takashi Yamashita, who oversees the issue, explained before the Diet Committee that the government did not intend to set a maximum limit on the number of foreign workers to accept in the new system.
In areas where a shortage of labor has been resolved, the Minister of Justice is considering ending the influx of foreign workers.
According to sources close to In fact, the number of strangers to whom new visas could be granted could reach hundreds of thousands, most of them likely to benefit from the first kind of status of residence.
The government will use the Air Order Department to specify the details of the system, such as which areas will need labor and how much will change over time. But the ordinances are not discussed in the Diet, which makes it difficult for the public to badess the validity of the law.
To help many foreigners adjust to life in Japan, the government plans to take steps to provide Japanese education and counseling services and to ensure that medical institutions are well prepared to accept Foreign nationals.
The government should also turn the immigration office of the Department of Justice into an agency to deal with an expected increase in its workload.
"We want to create a country where foreigners have the feeling of wanting to live and work," Cabinet Secretary-General Yoshihide Suga said Friday at a press conference.
The main spokesman of the government badured that foreign workers would be treated equally by Japanese workers wages in terms of jobs.
The scheme will be reviewed, if necessary, three years after the entry into force of the legislation.
He is apparently in a hurry to see the bill pbaded by the Diet before the unified local elections next spring and the elections to the House of Councilors in the summer.
It will not be only fortunate that measures to address the shortage of manpower be adopted to address the shortage of manpower. the business community but will appeal to "local community voters who badly need workers," according to a source in the prime minister's office.
While Japan has taken a stand "not to accept immigrants," it has become increasingly dependent on foreign workers.
The number of foreign workers in Japan reached a record 1.28 million last October, compared to 680,000 in 2012, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, with the participation of Chinese the largest group (about 370,000 people), followed by Vietnamese and Filipinos
In addition to highly skilled professionals, this figure includes those engaged in manual labor as part of a sponsored technical training program by the government. itics describe it as a way to import cheap labor. Students with the appropriate permit may work part-time.
The largest Japanese trade union, Rengo, on Friday called for an "in-depth" debate within the Diet, saying in a statement that the issue would have "a major social impact."
L & # 39; The organization, known officially as the Japanese Confederation of Trade Unions, also stated that the government should first and foremost ensure the rights of foreign workers already working in Japan, since in some cases technical trainees are forced to work long hours or abused in other ways.
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