PDF format: Lesson Series 21: Children's Rights: The General Principle of Non-Discrimination

A Case Study of Japanese-Filipino Children

Introduction

The Convention on the Rights of the Child ("The Convention") was unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. 191 countries have become State Parties to the Convention, with only two countries that have not: the United States, which has signaled its intention to ratify by formally signing it, and Somalia. This document marked a milestone in human rights terms, because is the first legally binding code of child rights in history, and acknowledges that children are holders of rights, rather than passive recipients of benefits. It brings together in one treaty all the relevant child rights issues, rather than having them scattered among a number of international treaties. It acknowledges that children are entitled to special protection of their rights, because of their vulnerability. It also sets basic standards for children’s wellbeing at different stages of their development.

The most important principles in this document are the principles of Non-discrimination (Article 2) and Best interests of the child (Article 3). An examination of the situation of many Japanese-Filipino children clearly shows the violation of these two basic principles. Japan ratified the Convention in 1994. 

In Japan, there are about 500,000 Filipino migrant workers of which approximately 97% are in the entertainment industry.[1] In these cases, inter-marriages and abandonment have become commonplace. Japanese men abandon their Filipina partners and their children for various reasons: they are previously married; their parents dislike the relationship; they have found another woman; or they are simply not serious about the relationship. Whatever the reason, the result is always detrimental to the innocent Japanese-Filipino children, who are discriminated upon on the basis of birth status, and denied some of their most basic rights. There are some 100,000 fatherless Japanese-Filipino children estimated to be living in the Philippines. [2]

The issues that surface in this lesson are not necessarily confined to this particular set of circumstances. Children born out of wedlock are being discriminated against in many other countries in Asia, such as Malaysia, where a child born out of wedlock is not entitled to any of his/her father’s property if the father dies intestate. Children on the borders of Cambodia, Burma and Thailand are being denied their right to a nationality, rendering them stateless and unable to access their basic needs. This case study will hopefully encourage others to reflect on the two most basic principles enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and consider the situation of children in their own countries.

1. 1997 estimate of documented and undocumented entries, reported in Sinag, (April-June 1999), the publication of the Development Action for Women Network. [Back to text]

2. Mainichi Shimbun, Aug. 1999. [Back to text]