Apology accepted.

I feel passionate, too, about the injustice these parents inflicted on their daughter.

Is it really easier to get fake passports, documents, and pretend that you're Japanese than it is to just legally move there?

I`ll answer these two quotes together.

In the case of the Philippines, it is indeed easier to take a legal route into the country. There are tons of legal immigrants from the Philippines in Japan. It isn`t a country that requires a flee-by-night approach. Visas are issued on a regular basis.
It may be quicker to go the fake route - you don`t have to wait for anything official to clear, obviously... But it isn`t as if the option to go through a legal route was unavailable to them.

If they had escaped to Japan from North Korea or the like, I am sure I would feel quite a bit differently about their case. But to forgive and forget in their case is basically saying "Hey, don`t even bother with the official routes. If you pop a kid out here we`ll forgive you and give you residency!"

I`m sure that in the beginning they weren`t thinking all that long term about these things, but at any time along the way they could have contacted an anonymous immigration center (they exist for things like this - Japan is actually surprisingly kind to illegal immigrants who want to stop being illegal...) to attempt to avoid hurting their daughter.

Its harder when you go through the right channels to get into any country.You'd be asked series of questions that must satisfy the authority who is required to stamp your visa.

on the other hand, getting fake passports, documents and the like is easier since you dont get asked any questions BUT is more expensive and it bothers on a percentage chance of whether you may be caught or not like this case you guys have been discussing.

My opinion: Extradite the parents (they most likely would be jailed in their country because of the attention this has brought) but keep the child in a foster home.

If the legal route is the only option, and you can't enter legally, then there is no option, is there?. Breaking the law is not the path to a better life. By your logic, it would be perfectly legal to steal from others if your job doesn't pay enough, after all, it's not your fault you are unskilled, is it?

There is a fine line between heartless and realistic. How much have you personally done to help the world? Have you donated your time or money to help the unskilled in poor nations? I have. I've been to Haiti, Honduras, Somalia, and Ethiopia. I've set up sanitary facilities, taught people how to purify water, and immunized countless children and adults.

What is the leading cause of poverty? Ignorance, and nothing else. What is the cure for ignorance? Education, of course. The best way to help somebody is to teach them to help themselves.

Instead of complaining about the injustices of the world, or arguing with another's opinion on the subject, you should put your money were your mouth is and do something about it. Join the Peace Corps, or some other organization, go out and see what the world is like when you put your feet on it. You'll find it much different than what you read, see, or hear at home.

Fair enough...

You seem to know more about the situation.

I got the impression that you were basing your opinions on the fact that you thought 30,000 dollars = not impoverished and the fact their daughter will have to be relocated from the country she was born = exploitation for sympathy. (I really can't imagine how it could be termed exploitation... but I'll leave it at that)

What I am referring to as exploitation is their pushing her to appear on TV on every possible station, and making her cry left and right on these shows...
Not to mention having her go around (keeping her out of school to do this, by the way) to large train stations and cry in front of them for petitions, etc.

All while mom and dad stand behind with smiles patting each other on the backs.

As she is 13, without parental permission she cannot do any of this. I find it hard to think that it could possibly be good for her to do hundreds of tearful interviews, and as a parent cannot imagine encouraging my child to do so.