Makiko Kishi, left, a lawmaker of Japan’s Constitutional Democratic Party, and members of the International Network in Solidarity with Korean Schools submit a petition to the Japanese government during a rally in Tokyo urging the inclusion of Korean schools under the Basic Act on Children, Thursday. Photo by Ryu Ho
Civic rights groups and activists from Korea, Japan and other parts of the world rallied in Tokyo, Thursday, urging the Japanese government to include Korean schools under the Basic Act on Children and make them eligible for free high school tuition support.
They argued that Japan continues to enforce discriminatory policies despite corrective recommendations from the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The rally was organized by the International Network in Solidarity with Korean Schools, a coalition of civic groups from Korea, Japan, Europe and Australia, and held at the House of Councillors Members’ Office Building. A global petition signed by more than 45,000 people was submitted to Japan’s education ministry and Children and Families Agency, urging the government to include Korean schools under the Basic Act on Children.
“For the sake of Japanese society and its children, discrimination in Japan must end,” an activist from the National Network for Supporting Korean Schools told the crowd.
In 2023, Japan enacted the Basic Act on Children, which sets out the protection of children’s fundamental human rights and freedom from discriminatory treatment as basic principles. But Korean schools have been excluded from the law.
"Excluding Korean school students from legal protection violates international standards as Japan is a party to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, and contradicts the very purpose of the Basic Act on Children," said Ha Sang-gyun, head of the Citizens’ Group in Solidarity with Korean Schools.
Activists speak during a press conference calling for Korean schools to be included under Japan’s Basic Act on Children in Tokyo, Thursday. Photo by Ryu-ho
Long-standing discriminatory policies
The case adds to a long list of policies that critics say reflect the Japanese government’s discriminatory treatment of Korean schools in Japan. In 2010, the Democratic Party-led government cited concerns over North Korea’s nuclear program and its abductions of Japanese nationals as it excluded Korean schools from eligibility for free high school tuition support.
Source: Korea Times News
