A Japanese high court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling ordering the government to pay 1.65 million yen ($10,600) in damages to the bereaved family of a Cameroonian man who died in 2014 while being detained in an immigration control facility in eastern Japan.

The mother of the 43-year-old man was seeking 10 million yen in damages, alleging that immigration officials at the Higashi-Nihon Immigration Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, failed to send him to a medical institution despite his claims of ill health.

The Tokyo High Court upheld the Mito District Court’s ruling in September 2022, which recognized that the immigration bureau failed to carry out its duty.

The man was detained by the center in November 2013 after being refused entry into the country at Narita airport near Tokyo the previous month. He had health issues, including diabetes, and was transferred to a recuperation room that was monitored by a security camera.

Although he complained of chest pain and cried out that he was dying on March 29, 2014, authorities left him lying on the floor. He was found with no vital signs the following morning and was confirmed dead at a hospital, it said.

During the trial, the government argued that the response by the officials, who had no medical knowledge, was not inappropriate.

Treatment of foreign nationals detained at Japanese immigration facilities has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, notably after 33-year-old Sri Lankan Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali died at a Nagoya detention facility after complaining of ill health for around a month.

Source: KYODO NEWS