”Vietnamese caught in Japan’s illegal worker crackdown,” 19 January 2026

[Unofficial description by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

Minh, a pseudonym used to protect his identity, arrived in Japan in 2015 under the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP). Today, after overstaying his visa, he finds himself targeted by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s proposed crackdown on illegal workers.

Critics argue that the TITP has long functioned as a means for Japan to secure low-cost labour, leaving workers vulnerable to debt, exploitation. In some cases, these conditions have driven workers to abandon their placements, with some becoming entangled in criminal activity.

Minh said that many people in Japan focus only on the visible outcome, crimes committed by foreigners, without considering the deeper causes. “They don’t think about the root of the problem,” he said.