A revised law on immigration control in Japan, which went into effect last June, introduced a new "supervisory" measure as a solution to prevent the long-term detention of foreigners who are subject to deportation.

The revision to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act allows such foreigners to live outside detention facilities under the supervision of designated individuals, but the system has gotten off to a shaky start due to a shortage of people willing to take on the monitoring role.

Making matters worse is the fact that such foreigners are unable to work due to their provisional status in Japan, making it financially unfeasible for them to make a living in country.

Daisuke Sugawara, 48, who is the owner of a bakery in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, took on three foreign detainees as a supervisor last summer. The three claim persecution in their home countries and have other circumstances that make it impossible for them to return.

Sugawara has continued to volunteer to visit detainees at the Higashi Nihon Immigration Center in Ushiku in the prefecture -- one of the main detention facilities in Japan operated by the Justice Ministry -- and was asked to be an Immigration Services Agency-designated supervisor.

"I am always being asked by detainees to become their supervisor," said Sugawara, referring to the facility in eastern Japan that houses around 50 detainees and has been cited for human rights violations.

Supervisory measures are granted when an immigration inspector deems the situation "appropriate," meaning the detainee is not considered a flight risk or likely to violate the conditions of provisional release.

The application requirement stipulates that the detainee must independently choose a supervisor and secure a supporter, relative, or acquaintance willing to take on the role.

The immigration agency, in response to a media query, said it "does not keep statistics that can be publicly released on the number of supervisors."

But according to Sugawara and Kimiko Tanaka, 72, a representative of a citizens' group concerned about issues involving human rights abuses at the detention center, only a few supporters have accepted supervisor roles at the Ushiku detention center.

Sugawara and Tanaka explained that because they are obligated to monitor detainees in their daily lives and report to the immigration office, there are few people willing to undertake the task.

"Some (detainees) give up on the application process because they wouldn't be able to find work after entering society and are not guaranteed a livelihood," Tanaka pointed out.

Sugawara added some detainees "cannot apply for a supervisor because they cannot even find a supporter to request one."

A man from Nigeria, for whom Sugawara accepted the role of supervisor, was approved for the measure last November and is living in a guesthouse in Ibaraki.

He is in the process of applying for refugee status, citing persecution at home, but he has told Sugawara that "making money is a matter of life and death" and that he has only "managed to get by" with the support of his living expenses from the help of a friend.

Treatment of foreign nationals detained at Japanese immigration facilities has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, notably after Wishma Sandamali, a 33-year-old Sri Lankan woman, died in March 2021 at a Nagoya detention facility after complaining of ill health for around a month.

The Immigration Services Agency has stated that the basic idea of the revised law is to "ensure the protection of those who should be protected" and "not to unnecessarily detain people."

But under the current situation where people abandon their applications out of the frustration of being unable to find a supervisor, there is the possibility they will remain detained for longer periods, even if they qualify for the supervisory measure.

Tanaka, who as a volunteer has also continued to visit detainees at the Ushiku detention center, suggested drastic revisions to the current system are needed, even though the law has recently been revised.

"There are still people who have been detained for more than a decade there. The problem of long-term detainment has not been fundamentally resolved, and the situation remains severe," she said.