However, the extent to which this advice is followed is unclear and events during 2004 and 2005 indicate that political considerations may overrule legal opinion for the following reasons.
First, it emerged that the Japanese government had sent officials from the MoJ (IB) to Turkey to visit the town from where a number of Kurdish asylum seekers and their families originated. Their report was submitted in proceedings before the Tokyo District Court in August 2004 prompting criticism from UNHCR as it could place the remaining families at risk from the Turkish authorities and undermine the integrity of the asylum system.