The Borneo Post

Japan enacts controvers­ial law to accept foreign workers

-

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition early yesterday 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 per cent.

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

 ??  ?? A cargo ship is seen at a port in Qingdao in China’s eastern Shandong province. — AFP photo
A cargo ship is seen at a port in Qingdao in China’s eastern Shandong province. — AFP photo

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Malaysia