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TOKYO: A ruling by Japan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday could lead
to citizenship for thousands of illegitimate children in the
country, including those born to Filipino mothers.
It ended years of court battles.
The court said it was unconstitutional to deny
nationality to children born out of wedlock to foreign mothers,
saying it was discriminatory to consider the parents’ marital
status. Japan is home to many foreign entertainers from the
Philippines and elsewhere.
“If we look at the significance of nationality
in guaranteeing basic human rights, we cannot afford to ignore
discrimination against children,” Presiding Judge Niro Shimada
said, overturning a lower court ruling.
Ten children of Filipino mothers had filed suit
seeking Japanese nationality because Japanese men— who were
married to other women —had acknowledged they were the
children’s fathers.
But the children, even though they were born in
Japan and only speak Japanese, were not granted nationality because
the fathers acknowledged them only after they were born.
Previously under Japanese law, the father had to
confirm the child as his before an out-of-wedlock birth.
According to official statistics, approximately
2,800 children born out of wedlock from foreign mothers reside in
Japan, among whom more than 2,000 have Japanese fathers.
Japan, which largely regards itself as
ethnically homogeneous, has strict controls on immigration.
The country has rejected the idea of large-scale
immigration even though it has one of the world’s lowest
birthrates.
-- AFP
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