Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a Cabinet ministers’ meeting on 8 July that the government will establish a new office at the Cabinet Secretariat next week to act as a “control tower” for policies related to foreign residents. The body will coordinate measures against crimes and alleged misuse of public systems by some non-citizens and steer broader immigration and integration policy across ministries. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said public unease over isolated offences and inappropriate use of social services by foreign residents had grown, even as Japan needs overseas workers to sustain economic growth. The new office will draw staff from agencies responsible for immigration control, labour, social security and taxation, aiming to improve information sharing and speed policy responses. The initiative comes in the middle of campaigning for the 20 July House of Councillors election, where several parties are calling for tighter immigration rules while others favour stronger inclusion measures. On the same day, eight human-rights organisations backed by 266 groups issued an emergency statement denouncing what they called xenophobic campaign rhetoric and dismissing claims that foreigners receive preferential treatment as baseless. Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki separately warned that Japan must avoid sliding into exclusionism and instead build an orderly, co-existent society.