Olympics highlights plight of foreign students

As some 11,000 international athletes from more than 200 countries head to Japan for the delayed Olympics – with several testing positive for COVID-19 in recent days – the plight of foreign residents barred from entry to the country, including international students, has come under the spotlight, writes Priyanka Borpujari for the South China Morning Post.

More than 500 academics from Japanese institutions and working in areas related to the country last week faxed a letter to Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa demanding more transparency regarding border control measures for foreign students. They have urged the ministry to re-open applications for long-term visa holders as well as their partners and family members.

Since April last year, Japan has closed its borders to all foreigners without valid residency status and also banned short-term travellers. Students and academic researchers were also originally left stranded, and only recently have some been able to enter, a situation described as “disastrous from the standpoint of education, research and knowledge production”, according to Chelsea Szendi Schieder, a professor at the faculty of economics at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo.
Full report on the South China Morning Post site