A copy of Wishma Sandamali s medical records (Rei Kishitsu)
Medical records of the Sri Lankan woman who died at an immigration detention facility in March contradict the interim report released by the Justice Ministry’s Immigration Services Agency of Japan in April.
A doctor wrote in early February that Wishma Sandamali, 33, required “IV or hospitalization if she can’t take (medications) orally,” according to medical records obtained by The Asahi Shimbun.
That contradicts the interim report, released on April 9, which said the doctor “never gave an instruction for an IV or hospitalization.”
According to upper endoscopy test results and other reports by a gastroenterologist who saw Sandamali, she was frequently vomiting.
Japan: Sri Lankan family wants to know why daughter died in detention Daily News (via HT Media Ltd.)
Family members of a Sri Lankan woman who died at an immigration detention facility in March have arrived in Japan and want answers.
They plan to meet with immigration officials and ask them a tough question: “Why did the Japanese immigration authorities kill her?”
The death of Wishma Sandamali, 33, who was detained at a facility operated by the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau in August 2020 for overstaying her visa, has sparked outrage among opposition lawmakers.
She became ill around mid-January this year and suffered from nausea, vomiting and a poor appetite. Her symptoms worsened and she lost about 20 kilograms and had difficulty walking. She died on March 6.
The death of a Sri Lankan woman at an immigration detention facility in March has become a rallying cry as the Diet discusses a government-drafted bill to revise the immigration law.
The Justice Ministry’s Immigration Services Agency of Japan investigated the incident and released an interim report on April 9, shortly before the start of the Diet’s discussion on the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law.
But the report apparently omitted the fact that a psychiatrist recommended that Wishma Sandamali receive provisional release two days before her death.
Opposition lawmakers have taken issue with the omission, demanding a full accounting of how the woman died in detention.