Death of Wishma Sandamali

Rathnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali (Sinhala: රත්නායක ලියනගේ විශ්මා සඳමාලි; December 5, 1987 – March 6, 2021) was a Sri Lankan woman who died in custody at an immigration detention facility in Nagoya, Japan, after her requests for provisional release and adequate medical care were denied. Japanese authorities detained Wishma in August 2020 for overstaying her visa, which was discovered after she reported experiencing domestic violence.

Wishma was the 17th person to die in Japanese immigration detention since 2007. Her death prompted renewed criticism of Japan's strict immigration control, which accepted only 0.4% of asylum applications in 2019. Prosecutors have dropped charges against immigration officials. Civil lawsuits against the Japanese government seeking compensation and the release of surveillance footage are ongoing.