Japanese officials face probe over Sri Lankan woman's death at immigration center

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Japanese officials have been accused of “failing to provide appropriate medical care” to a Sri Lankan woman who died at an immigration center in Japan earlier this year.

The family of Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali have filed a case against the director and deputy director of the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau, saying “their conduct amounted to willful negligence,” Kyodo News reported on Tuesday.

Wishma, 33, who came to Japan in 2017 on a student visa, was taken into custody in August 2020 for overstaying her visa.

She was detained at the facility in Nagoya, where she was denied medical attention despite persistently complaining of stomach pain and other symptoms since mid-January.

She lost 20 kilograms (44 pounds) in detention, was vomiting blood in her final days, and was so weak that she had no control of her arms and legs, according to an April 2021 report by Singapore-based The Straits Times.

In August, an investigation by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan revealed that staff at the facility “lacked awareness of handling crises, and there were problems with the center's medical and information sharing system.”

However, the probe did not determine the cause of her death, prompting Wishma’s family to file a complaint with the Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office, Kyodo News reported.