RP embassy in Tokyo to help Filipino teen
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 19:23:00 03/16/2009
Filed Under: Immigration, Family
MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine embassy in Tokyo will help Noriko Calderon, the 13-year-old Filipino daughter of illegal immigrants whose parents have decided to leave her behind when they are deported back to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.
In a text message, acting DFA spokesman Ed Malaya said the department has instructed the embassy in Tokyo “to closely monitor and provide assistance to Noriko as needed.”
Arlan and Sarah Calderon, Noriko's parents, will be deported within a couple of weeks after showing up Monday at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, where they asked to be allowed to remain in Japan with their Japanese-only-speaking daughter.
The department “respects the decision of the parents and fully appreciates the heavy heart with which they arrived at that difficult decision to leave their daughter in Japan,” Malaya said.
The DFA spokesman said the teenager would be left with an aunt and uncle, and other relatives in Saitama and Tokyo.
The Calderon couple, who had entered Japan illegally in the early 1990s, had asked that they be allowed to stay in that country because their daughter wanted to live there. But the immigration bureau gave them only two choices: leave with their daughter or without her.
Japan's tough immigration laws often ensure the quick deportation of illegal immigrants and prohibits their entry for five years.
The case of the Calderons has attracted the attention of human rights advocates from Amnesty International, which said that the child's interests be given priority, and the United Nations' Human Rights Council, which requested for more information on the case.
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