Refugee Case
QUESTION 1
I came across one of your articles regarding refugee application and it suits the current situation of my brother who is now in Japan. I have follow-up questions though, his wife applied for a refugee visa for them and their two kids. However, due to situations, which he finds unbearable, he wants to go back to the Philippines. The problem is his wife doesn’t want to go back with him and won’t allow him to take both kids home, he can only take his eldest. The question is, can he just go ahead and buy their tickets and fly home? Or does he and his wife have to report to the Embassy and have their application for refugee visa cancelled before he can actually schedule a flight? My brother is worried that his wife and their daughter’s application will be withdrawn as well, that’s why he’s hesitant to come home. Can he withdraw the application for him and his son alone, without having to withdraw his wife and daughter’s application?
ANSWER 1
Of course, he can withdraw his application for refugee and buy ticket. Please go to the Immigration and notify it. There is no problem at all. As I mentioned on the legal column of Philippine Digest, 99.9% of refugee application from Filipinos are supposed to be denied by the Immigration Bureau since they have no persecution on the Refugee Convention. So, his decision is the best way since their case will be automatically rejected by the Immigration authority same with other cases.
QUESTION 2
May I ask if death threats coming from a leader of New People’s Army (armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines) can be considered a reason to be accepted as a refugee in Japan?
ANSWER 2
Legally speaking, it does not correspond to the “persecution” on the Refugee Convention. It is because the communist party is not your government. That is, if you are threatened “killing” by the communist party, you should be able to ask for the protection from the Philippine government, and the authority of the government can get protection from the communist army.
vSo, you cannot seek for it from the Japanese government since you are not a refugee.
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