Osaka Immigration Bureau Doctor Found with Alcohol in System during Work Hours

A full-time doctor at the Osaka Immigration Bureau (Osaka City) has been found to have a document that appears to be a report written by an Osaka immigration official the day after the doctor’s examination. . On the 6th, Sohei Nihi, a member of the House of Councilors (Communist Party), made the announcement during a hearing with the Immigration Services Agency (Immigration Bureau) held by the opposition party. (Isoko Mochizuki)

Diagnosis by cat stroking voice, alcohol detection by breath test

Justice Minister Takeru Saito said, “It will take time to confirm the facts,” and did not report the matter to the Diet. Opposition parties are poised to pursue the contradictions in the justice minister’s remarks and demand his resignation, arguing that the government may have grasped the situation from an early stage.

The documents that Rep. Nihi announced as having been obtained from officials of the Immigration Bureau consist of five A4 size sheets and attached materials. It was written in the name of an immigration control officer at the Osaka Immigration Bureau and was addressed to the head of the Immigration Office’s clinic. There was a date of January 21 this year, the day after he detected alcohol from his doctor.

According to the document, the doctor came to the office after 3:00 pm on January 20 after receiving the new coronavirus vaccine. While he handed out souvenirs such as sweets and instant noodles to staff, he smiled and behaved cheerfully, lacking composure and coolness. The first patient was notified of the results of the health checkup, but because his eyelids were heavy and he was stroking the voice of a cat, a breath test was performed on a total of five people in the treatment room, including the doctor.

After three tests, doctors found 0.22 to 0.36 milligrams of alcohol per liter of exhaled breath, which is above the drunk driving limit. The doctor then said, “What is this? What is it?” The immigration authorities asked the doctor to take annual leave, but he said, “It’s rude” and “It’s okay to be absent without permission.”

When asked about the authenticity of the contents of the document during the hearing with the opposition party, an Immigration Bureau official declined to answer, saying, “I cannot answer.”

At a House of Representatives Judicial Committee meeting on Feb. 2, Justice Minister Saito said that he learned of the doctor’s drinking problem “in late February.” In April, the Immigration Bureau compiled a document stating that there was “one full-time doctor in Osaka (increased in July 2022)” as a measure to improve the medical system, but at the time, full-time doctors were already out of the scope of medical care. A bill to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act was submitted to the Diet in March, and the Minister of Justice said, “There is steady progress in strengthening the medical system, such as securing full-time doctors, and promoting a change in the mindset of staff members.” Committee), etc., repeatedly appealed immigration reform in the Diet.

Wishma’s bereaved family “Medical maintenance was a complete lie”

Polnima (28), the younger sister of Sri Lankan woman Wishma Sandamari (33 years old at the time), who died in 2021 at the Nagoya Immigration Bureau (Nagoya Immigration Bureau), held a press conference on the 6th, and a full-time doctor at the Osaka Immigration Bureau said alcohol. He criticized the incident in which he treated a detainee while drunk, saying, “(Saito), Minister of Justice, said that the medical system had been improved after his sister’s death, but that was a complete lie.”

The doctor was hired by the Osaka Immigration Bureau in July last year as part of efforts to strengthen the medical care system at the detention facility following Wishma’s death. “The justice minister was aware of the issue in February but did not disclose it, and is now trying to pass the revised bill. It is irresponsible,” said Polnima.

The two requested an interview with the justice minister on the same day, but were rejected. His other younger sister, Wayomi, 30, said, “I wanted to ask if the immigration medical system was improving, but I’m sorry we couldn’t meet.”