Osaka — An employee of the Justice Ministry's immigration
center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, made a derogatory remark
against a Chinese detainee, telling the man "it's fun to bully
foreigners," officials at the facility said.
The derogatory remark came to light when a group
supporting foreigners interviewed the Chinese man at the East Japan
Immigration Control Center. The group filed a complaint with the
center.
The center has apologized to the man, and the employee,
whose job includes patrolling the center, has been transferred to
another section, the officials said Thursday.
According to the center and the support group, the
employee made the remark when he was talking to the man in Japanese
in early August.
The man was allegedly involved in a criminal case and his
visa status has been revoked.
The group said the man and other foreign detainees who
shared a room with him complained to the center, but it took nearly
a month for the center to apologize.
Meanwhile, the center stressed there was no physical
bullying.
"The employee made the remark as a joke, but it was
inappropriate," an official said.
The immigration facility currently has about 260 detainees
who are applying for refugee status or who illegally stayed in
Japan.
About 50 foreigners, including Pakistanis and Iranians,
have been waging a hunger strike at the center since Tuesday
because it has not responded to their request to speed up the
application process for temporary release.