15 March 2021 09:27 am Views - 433
A 33-year-old Sri Lankan woman, who was being detained at an Immigration detention Centre in Nagoya, Japan had died on March 6, the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tokyo said yesterday.
“She had been under detention since August last year as her visa had expired,” an embassy spokesman told the Daily Mirror yesterday.
Following the death, a team led by a Minister from the SLEmbassy Roshan Gamage had visited the Centre in Nagoya and met the authorities. “The authorities had assured them that there would be an impartial investigations into the incident and a full report would be issued soon,” the spokesman said.
According to initial investigations, the victim, from Gampaha in Sri Lanka had arrived in Japan in 2017 as a student. She had been arrested and detained by Japanese immigration authorities last August due to the expiry of her visa. Subsequently she had been moved to the Nagoya detention centre, which accommodates foreigners without status of residence.
Accordingly, the woman had continuously complained about the food that was being served at the centre and due to that she had become weak. The embassy spokesman said that the immigration officials had informed that on six occasions doctors had checked the woman and she had been admitted to hospital on two occasions. “The cause of death is yet unknown till the authorities give a verdict on it,” the spokesman said adding that “we are awaiting the report and we have already informed the Japanese Foreign Ministry regarding the matter and have requested for an impartial investigations to be carried out.”
Accordingly, the Japanese Justice Minister had directed the authorities to conduct a separate impartial investigation about the matter,” the spokesman added. He said that the family in Sri Lanka had been informed about this unfortunate incident and future steps including the dispatch of the remains would be taken accordingly.
‘I really want to eat now’ - Japanese media quoting the victim
Several Japanese media institutions had reported about the Sri Lankan woman’s death at the Nagoya Centre saying that it was due to ‘being denied appropriate treatment’.
According to one media report, Letters and illustrations sent by a debilitated and dead Sri Lankan woman from the camp of the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau to some support groups saying that “I really want to eat now”.
Another media quoting a support group START, stated that the woman was so weak that she couldn’t eat or walk due to mental stress and poor physical condition, and she had a bucket during the visit because she vomited. A copy of the reason for the application for provisional release in December last year says in Roman letters, “I want to go to the hospital and get an IV drip, but the immigration bureau will not take me.”--