Foreigners and Public Assistance Provided by Local Governments

: The Limits of Public Assistance Based on Notification

Abstract

This paper discusses the legal basis and legitimacy of social protections for foreigners provided by local governments, as well as the limits of those policies. At present, as a result of decentralization, the official notifications regulating public assistance for foreigners have been converted into technical advice under the Local Autonomy Act, rendering the legal basis of protections provided by local governments unclear. This change has enabled anti-foreigner movements to bring residents’ audit requests to local governments, and to launch lawsuits that question the legal basis and the legitimacy of protections provided by local governments to foreigners. Therefore, in this paper, I investigate the aforementioned materials in order to clarify how local governments have sought to demonstrate the legal basis and legitimacy of providing assistance to foreigners. It was found that local governments generally protect foreigners as “a contribution or assistance,” and that it is possible to judge whether foreigners are protected at the local government’s discretion. Based on these findings, I argue that, given the complexities of local government discretionary authority, the difficulty of understanding cost burdens related to assistance programs for foreigners, and the international Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, protections based on official notifications should be regarded as a limitation, and that legislation to promote the provision of assistance for foreigners is needed.