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Vietnamese caught in Japan's illegal worker crackdown
Vietnamese workers now constitute 25% of Japan's foreign workforce amid rising visa overstays and disappearances, prompting government plans for stricter visa controls in 2024.
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has vowed action, promising a package later this month to tighten visa controls after Japan's immigration agency reported around 6,500 trainees disappeared last year.
- Japan's ageing population and labour shortages have pushed the 2.3-million foreign workforce, with Vietnamese workers surging ninefold over a decade.
- Many interns say they arrive indebted, with recruitment fees up to US$7,500, and under Technical Intern Training Program rules they must stay with employers despite low wages and harassment, Jiho Yoshimizu said.
- Police figures show foreigners accounted for 5.5% of roughly 190,000 people arrested in 2024, and Vietnamese trainees topped foreign arrestees at over 30%, including one arrested for murder.
- The government plans to transition Technical Intern Training Program into a new system in 2027 with stricter language rules, while Jotaro Kato, immigration expert, warned the weak yen and South Korea competition hurt Japan's appeal.
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources41
Leaning Left6Leaning Right6Center12Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
L 25%
C 50%
R 25%
Factuality
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