Filipino family cannot stay together in Japan, ministry decides+

TOKYO, Feb. 13 Kyodo -
The Justice Ministry has decided not to allow a Filipino family, including a
13-year-old girl born and raised in Japan, to continue to stay together in the
country, Justice Minister Eisuke Mori said Friday.

The decision was conveyed to Arlan Calderon, 36, and his wife Sarah, 38, both
undocumented, when they arrived at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau to
tell the authorities that they want to stay in Japan with their daughter
Noriko, who attends a junior high school in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, seeking
special permission for residence.
A provisional release status for the family, which is under a deportation
order, expired Friday, but the status has been extended for another two weeks
through Feb. 27 so the family can prepare for departure, according to their
lawyer.
The immigration authorities have told the couple it may be possible to issue
special permission for residence to Noriko only.
After receiving the decision, Noriko told reporters, ''I'm very shocked. I will
not be able to continue studying if I'm apart from my parents.''
While the family will again seek the special permission for residence when they
present themselves at the bureau on Feb. 27, it is highly likely that Arlan and
Sarah will be deported soon.
''Noriko is still 13 years old,'' Arlan said. ''We will not be able to leave
her alone in Japan.''
Noriko was born in 1995 in Japan after her parents entered Japan in the early
1990s on different people's passports.
They filed a lawsuit to seek nullification of the deportation order against
them, but the Supreme Court rejected it last September.
Earlier this week, Noriko said at a press conference in Tokyo, ''I want to live
in Japan together with my parents.''
==Kyodo