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Body of Lankan woman who died in Japan lies in funeral parlour pending investigations
View(s):The body of a 33-year-old Sri Lankan woman who died in Nagoya, Japan, is being held in a funeral parlour in that city pending the completion of investigations, diplomats said.
Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali died on March 6 after being taken to hospital from an immigration detention centre of the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau. Her parents gave an affidavit to the Sri Lankan mission in Tokyo requesting her remains to be disposed of in Japan.
Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali
But the funeral cannot be held until an investigation ordered by Japan’s Justice Minister is brought to a close. Separately, the Sri Lankan Embassy has also looked into her case, including examining health reports. The cause of death is yet to be determined.
Japanese media reported that Wishma, from Imbulgoda, Gampaha, went to Japan on a student visa in 2017 and was detained by Japanese immigration in August last year for overstaying. It was also said that she had expressed “a desperate desire for food in notes and letters”. Diplomatic sources indicated that she had a stomach condition that made her vomit frequently.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan mission has been told that there are currently 26 of its nationals in Japanese immigration detention centres. The authorities would not disclose details, including names, addresses or ages, because nearly all were seeking asylum status claiming they were unsafe in Sri Lanka, diplomats said.
Earlier, it has been indicated that there were around 300 illegal immigrants but many had been given provisional releases owing to COVID-19. The Embassy has asked for details of any Sri Lankans in immigration custody who are ill and are outside the asylum-seeker category.
Most Sri Lankans caught in the immigration net first to Japan went on student visa, stopped studies midway and overstayed when the respective educational institution refused to approve their continued presence in the country. Others took short-term or visit visas and overstayed. Still more chose other categories of visa to obtain work, abandoned the jobs and sought alternate employment, thereafter overstaying. Many of them then seek asylum.