Foreign nurses turned down because of gender

A deal to allow Indonesian nurses to work in Japan has fallen short of its target because many male nurses who applied were turned down, reports the Yomiuri:

Under an EPA signed in August 2007, Japan is scheduled to accept 1,000 Indonesian nurses and care workers over a two-year period. In the first year, Japan was supposed to accept 500 Indonesian nurses. However, only about 40 percent of the scheduled number will arrive on Aug. 7.

One reason the number fell short of 500 was that the number of applicants itself was lower than expected because the Indonesian government had little time to publicize the opportunity to work in Japan. This has been compounded by the fact that many Japanese medical and welfare facilities refused to accept male nurses, who accounted for more than half of the candidates.

Many Indonesian male nurses who were refused work in Japan have expressed disappointment at being turned down as a result, and this issue is sure to become an item on the agenda of future talks between the nations looking at how to deal with the mismatch between the Indonesian nurses and the Japanese facilities.