TOKYO, Jan 24 (AFP) - Japan on Monday allowed five Kurds to stay in the country for another month after two members of their family were deported to Turkey in defiance of the UN refugee agency and human rights activists.
The five remaining family members -- the mother, three daughters and a son -- were allowed to extend their stay when they showed up at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, which received thousands of signatures in support of the family.
"We got provisional permission but we don't know what will happen next month," the family's eldest daughter Zeliha, 21, said as she left the immigration office.
Japan's immigration authority last Tuesday sent the family's 49-year-old father, Ahmet Kazankiran, and his 20-year-old son Ramazan back to Turkey even though they had been granted refugee status by the UN refugee agency.
Japan's first deportation of UN-recognized refugees sparked criticism. Supporters of the family said they would face persecution in Turkey because Kazankiran had taken part in demonstrations for Kurdish rights.
The father and son were detained at the immigration office when they went there on January 17 to renew the temporary order that kept them out of detention. They were put on a plane to Turkey the following day.
A Japanese justice ministry official said the decision on Monday was a result of "comprehensive consideration over the circumstances", including the fact that some family members were minors.
"We also need to consider their human rights," he said, adding that immigration authorities hoped the family would leave voluntarily.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees criticized last week's deportations as "unprecedented," saying it "contrasts with Japan's humanitarian assistance towards refugees and disaster victims abroad."
Historically homogeneous Japan has strict controls on immigration and has only granted refugee status in the rarest circumstances.
01/24/2005 09:38 GMT - AFP