日本語

*** SIGN THE PETITION TO PUT AN END TO THE TECHNICAL INTERN TRAINEE PROGRAM - SYSTEM OF MODERN SLAVERY ENABLED BY THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT *** 

My name is Marikojiei Tadokoro, a volunteer from the non-profit organization POSSE. At POSSE, we provide support and guidance to Technical Trainees who have faced problems at their workplace and are often placed in destitute situations. We have set up this petition to raise awareness and to demand an end to the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), a system that enables modern slavery today in Japan. 

Currently, around 400,000 technical trainees work in Japan and are often subjected to breach of human rights and illegal mistreatment by their employers and their Supervising Organisation. According to a report by the Ministry of Labour, over 70% of these workplaces were found to be in violation of labor law. More than 8,700 trainees (in 2019) have been forced to flee from inhumane conditions and are reported as “missing”. Many trainees have come to POSSE to seek advice on these mistreatments which include, but are not limited to bullying (at times violent), sexual harassment, and refusal of payment. 

The Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) allows these atrocities to happen as its system deliberately strips away the rights and freedom of the trainees, giving them no choice but to work in appalling circumstances.

Under the program, the trainees cannot change their workplace. Technically, under exceptional circumstances where malpractices are to be found, the trainees are given special permission to move jobs. However, in reality, this is difficult as it requires a well-documented account of the malpractices which are often impossible to obtain. Furthermore, even if the malpractices were to be proven, the Supervising Organisation will often not comply. Trainees are then faced with two choices: to continue working in the inhuman conditions, or to flee and go ‘missing’.

Often, Trainees are in debt from the large sum of money they have had to pay prior to arriving in Japan. Under the program, the trainees are required to undergo training, inflating the cost of recruitment fee to up to 1 million yen, equivalent to a whole year’s worth of pay for most of the trainees in their home country. The debt not only leaves the trainees feeling unable to leave before paying it off, but also often used as a threat against them. Many speaking to POSSE have experienced threats of deportation or immediate repayment of the debt when trying to speak up on the ill practices at their workplace. 

It has become apparent that the Technical Intern Training Program has a systematic problem: by putting trainees in debt and forbidding them to change jobs the Program takes away the voice of the trainees, making it impossible to exercise their rights. This system that forces the trainees to continue working even in harsh working conditions is truly a system of ‘modern slavery’. With this program, Japan is embracing and upholding a system of modern slavery at a national and governmental level. 

The Technical Intern Training Program, which enslaves foreign workers, must be abolished immediately. Essential industry, such as food, clothing, housing, and welfare that our lives heavily depend on, is upheld and supported by the work done by the trainees. People’s rights should not be diminished just because they are “trainees” and should be guaranteed as workers just as any other workers. Please sign the petition and join our movement to abolish the Technical Intern Training Program and to create a society in which everyone’s, including the trainees’s rights, are guaranteed and where foreign workers are free from discrimination.

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What is the Abolish the TITP Project? 

This project was set up by a group of young POSSE volunteers who want to fundamentally change the society built on top of exploitation of others. The project aims to abolish the Technical Training Intern Program within two years; we will achieve this first by understanding the problem of the TTIP through outreach activities to trainees, including labor consultations and labor negotiations with companies, and also by raising awareness to increase the demand for its abolition. This petition is part of this movement. For more information on our activities, please visit: 

https://blog.goo.ne.jp/posse_blog/e/644901d9797a74a5ed75c68523c27af0

We are always looking for people to take action with us and raise voices together. There are different ways in which you can use your skills, such as in outreach activities, labor consultation, social media officer, interpretation, translation, and video production. Together we can fundamentally change the system based on exploitation and create a different society. 

If you’re interested in volunteering please email me (Mariko) at volunteer@npoposse.jp (please include briefly why you want to join and your affiliation). 

If you would like to become a co-sponsor of this petition, please also contact us.NPO POSSE Labour Support Centre: https://foreignworkersupport.wixsite.com/mysite supportcenter@npoposse.jp

201 Rosenheim Shimokitazawa, 4-17-15 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 155-0031

Twitter: https://twitter.com/posse_volunteerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/npo_posse/