The case involving Wishma Sandamali, who was 33 years old when she died on March 6, 2021, has intensified scrutiny of Japan’s immigration detention system. Rights groups have called for greater transparency and an end to prolonged and opaque detentions of foreigners under investigation by local immigration authorities.
Nagoya’s immigration agency has confirmed it possesses around 295 hours of video footage of Sandamali while she was in detention for overstaying her visa. However, the agency has only agreed to release five hours of recordings to her family.
Sandamali’s family has already filed a suit demanding compensation from the Japanese government for her death, claiming that she died because immigration authorities failed to provide her with medical care when she became unwell.
The government has defended the actions of the officials at the detention centre and claimed that medical examinations found no reasons for Sandamali’s poor health. Her family believes the footage that has been being withheld may shed light on the circumstances leading to her death.
A segment of the footage that has been provided to the family shows her falling to the floor from her bunk and pleading with two staff for help, the family’s Japanese lawyers have said.
