NAGOYA (Japan), Sept 14 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- A high court has granted permission for a Japan-born baby daughter of Afghan refugees to be given Japanese nationality, rescinding a rejection by a family court, with their lawyer hailing it as a "breakthrough" move, Kyodo News Agency reported.
The decision by the Nagoya High Court, dated Wednesday, is likely to be the first for a child of Afghan parents to be allowed to create a new family registry in Japan, lawyer Yasuyuki Nagai said.
Under Japan's Nationality Act, a child is deemed a Japanese citizen if they were born in Japan and either both of the parents are unknown, or if known, both of them are without nationality.
Presiding Judge Yasuhiro Hasegawa said in his decision that the girl's parents were effectively stateless when their child was born in Japan in 2022, as Afghanistan had lost its international standing following the Taliban's return to power in 2021.
In Japan, just nine people from war-torn Afghanistan were granted refugee status in 2021, but the number grew to 147 in 2022, and 237 in 2023, according to the Immigration Services Agency.
"We can expect an increase in the number of children born from parents who fled (from their country), so it's a breakthrough decision," Nagai said.
-- BERNAMA-KYODO
