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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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122589
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12258900.007
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1990-09-22
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BUSINESS, Page 69Business NotesJAPANHelp Wanted -- But Not You
Amid the gravest labor shortage to afflict Japan in 15 years,
the Diet has taken a step that could deepen the dearth. In a vote
that critics attacked as a sign of Japanese insularity, legislators
approved a crackdown on companies that employ any of the more than
100,000 unskilled illegal aliens from Bangladesh, the Philippines
and other Asian nations who live in Japan. Under the measure, which
contains no amnesty provision for illegal aliens who now hold jobs,
firms caught hiring illegal foreign workers will be fined as much
as $14,000. Employers who persist in the practice could face three
years in prison.
Supporters of the law argue that Japan cannot provide basic
services such as education and medical care to the unskilled
immigrants, who are concentrated in low-paying construction and
manufacturing jobs that Japanese often shun. But opponents charge
that the crackdown will "push Asian laborers into even more
inferior working conditions and further Japan's xenophobia."