Tag Archives: refugees

Refugees cannot fit in and would take jobs from Japanese

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by Reina Doi

Recently, lots of refugees are coming to Japan to expect better living, but most of them are not accepted as refugees, so they forced displacement. For this situation, some people criticized that this is not appropriate as a country which ratify the treaty of refugees,and Japan should accept more refugees. However, I disagree that opinion in that employment issue, cultural aspects and national sentiments.

First of all, I believe if Japan admits many refugees to come, more Japanese will feel difficulty to find job, and it will make hierarchy in Japanese society. Employer prefers low cost to employ, so refugees would rob work from Japanese people, and an unemployment rate will increase. In addition, society will divide into two opposites, and as a result, cognition that refugees should do working which people do not want to do will be general. Thus, increasing refugees affects Japanese employment.

Next, there are big culture shock if refugees come to Japan, and especially language seems suffered them. Language is the basic of communication, and important in everything one does. Of course, refugees who come to Japan did not study Japanese in their own country, even English is not so common, and not useful in daily life, so Japan is not good to live. However, Japanese government does not support for them to learn language, so it is too hard to live like their home country.

Finally, national sentiments could be important when we think about refugees. Many Japanese normally feel uncomfortable around foreigners, because it is rare that foreigners live in Japan compared with other countries. For instance, U.S. is formed by immigrants, and even now there are lots of people are coming and live together. However, Japan is not same as U.S., and even though Japan ratified the treaty of refugees, it does not match public opinion, so if government enforce to admit more refugees, they would suffer from discrimination. Besides, if tax which is caused for taking care of refugees increase, antipathy will burst, and it makes demonstration which accept lots of refugees.

To sum up, saving Japanese worker, culture differences in that language and national sentiments is the reason that I disagree to allow. Japan seems that it is not appropriate to admit refugees, because there are no good system to save refugees and people are exclusive. Therefore it does not good effect for refugees, and they will feel difficulty to live Japan. For these reasons, I think Japan should not allow more refugees.

Aggressively accepting refugees

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by Yurika Chiba

According to UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), there were more than 15,370,000 refugees all over the world in 2010. Currently, Japan has more than 10,000 refugees. However, the number of refugees is very small compared to other countries. For example, the United States of America accepts more than 30,000 refugees per year. By contrast, Japan accepts less than 100 refugees per year. It is obvious that Japan does not actively take in refugees. Some people insist that Japan should accept more refugees. However, others do not think so. Which idea is correct?

At first, Japan is said to be a homogeneous country. Basically, the number of foreigners and immigrants is small. I mean most Japanese people do not get used to interacting with people from different countries. It is hard for refugees to fit in Japanese society. In addition, Japan does not have a well-organized system for refugees. For instance, refugees cannot get a job easily. They cannot receive health insurance. There are such problems in Japan. I mean that refugees cannot adapt Japanese society easily even if they are recognized as refugees by Japanese government. What I want to say is that Japanese government should produce a well-organized system to make better society for refugees before Japan increases the number of refugees.

However, some people suggest that accepting more refugees is above everything else. They indicate that waiting for a well-organized system for refugees is the same as doing nothing. It is crucial to take in more refugees as soon as possible. Many refugees would have an impact on Japanese people. Japanese government has to establish the system for refugees if there are a lot of refugees in Japan. I think it is also important to understand refugees among Japanese people. For instance, why they became refugees, why they cannot live in their own country and so on. Actually, I did not know much about refugees because I was not interested in the topic. But, this issue is attractive to me now. I think most Japanese people know too little about refugees because the word “refugees” is not-so-familiar topic. If a refugee moves home to next to our house, we have no other choice to consider how to deal with the refugee. I mean that most Japanese people do not have the opportunity to think about refugees because there are not refugees around us. Expanding the number of refugees might allow Japanese people to understand refugees more and more.

At last, my opinion is that Japan should accept more refugees aggressively. But, it is also important that Japanese government produce the well-organized system for refugees.

References

UNHCR. Retrieved 05/29/13 from http://www.unhcr.or.jp/html/index.html

Japan should become a leader of global society

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by Kazuki Ando

The ratio of refugees’ acceptance is very low in Japan. This data shows that Japan doesn’t accept refugee in some reason. The reasons why Japan doesn’t accept are that Japan is academic career-based society and Japan has large population despite small country. However Japan should accept more refugees.

First, to protect human rights is much more superior than not accept refugee. While most developed country tends to accept refugee, Japan doesn’t. To accept more refugees is possible to change the view of Japan from other country. To become a leader of international society like the U.S. and countries in Europe. Some Asian countries like Singapore accepted refugees are succeeded as well. In fact, it takes much time to make up some supports for refugee because Japanese have stereotypes, and then they regard as “gaijin”. I think it is not big deal if much time passed in order to change because Japan took much time to change into democracy. Besides some multicultural countries can make structures for refugee, so Japan also can do. This is good opportunity to change into multicultural and to contribute international society.

Second, to accept refugee doesn’t have any demerits. Some people say that to accept refugee has some demerits for Japanese society in terms of public safety and employment rate. According to metropolitan police department, the criminal rate of foreigner is quite fewer than that of Japanese. I think the public safety in Japan don’t become bad. Next, now employment rate is very low in Japan, so we can see the news that university student is hard to get a better job. Now Japan has this serious situation, thus Japan can’t afford to accept refugee in terms of employment rate. I don’t agree with that opinion because what refugee work in Japan brings good effect to Japanese society. For example, development of economy, rise of quality of products and so on. Refugee has strong will to work in Japan in order to live in Japan. If they don’t work hard, they can’t live in Japan because Japanese government did not give them enough treatment to live. In addition, Japan has some under populated areas and Japan is declining birth rate and an ageing population society, so Japan needs more workers to prevent such a problem. To accept more refugees is going to be a development of economy for Japan.

To sum up, Japan should accept more refugees to become leader in global society and to gain the development of Japanese economy. It must be necessary of much time, so Japan should gradually change the way of thinking about “gaijin” and make enough supports for refugee to live in Japan.

Refugees in Japan

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by Misa Takahashi

I learned a lot of things about ‘Refugees in Japan’ in this class, and I feel that there are two alienations for refugees in Japan through this class. One of the alienations is ‘aspect of mental alienation’. The other is ‘aspect of system’. I would like to talk about this two alienations, and then I consider about solutions for refugee in Japan problems.

First is ‘mental alienation’. For example, languages and culture barriers, no jobs, and children struggle in school. Of course, these infringe on the life of refugees. Especially, no jobs are serious problem. In Japan, money is most important for living, so no way to work means that no way to live. In fact, if there is jobs for them, these jobs generally something calling ‘3K’. It means that the works of bad situation, kitanai (duty), kitsui (hard), kiken (danger) in Japanese. These are low wages, they can’t have enough income for living. Also, languages and culture barriers and children struggle in school break their mental, difficult to live in Japanese society.

Second is ‘system alienation’. According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of refugees who apply to the institution for refugee admission is 1,867, but only 21 people are admitted. Moreover, these 14 of 21 admitted people once weren’t admitted. They didn’t become admitted refugees until they lodge the not-admitted for the institution. As I have said, Japan system for refugees disturb that they live in Japan.

Considering above mentioned, two alienations for refugees disturb their lives in Japan. On the other hands, words of migration and refugee are not familiar for Japanese. The reason I think are that education about migration and refugee is not enough, the number of admitted refugees is very few, and there is discrimination for foreigners. I think that these are roots the two alienations. We are unfamiliar with refugees, not enough educated, discriminate against foreigners, so there are these issues in our society, I think. To solve these issues, we have to solve the that fundamental problems first.

Reference

Ministry of justice http://www.moj.go.jp/nyuukokukanri/kouhou/nyuukokukanri03_00085.html (final readings 2012,11,13)

Refugees in Japan

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by Yuu Yokoyama

I think Japan should receive more refugees and give more support for them. Japan started to receive Indochina refugees in 1978 and joined United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (UNHCR) in 1981. It is the international organization for refugee. Then, in 2010, Japan decided to admit refugee to live in Japan as the third county resettlement for the first time in Asia. Japan contributes many refugee support programs. On the other hand, there are some problems in the system for refugees.

First, the support for refugees is very weak. For example, while they wait the recognition of the refugee application, refugees can get money to live in Japan from government. This is because they have no means to earn money, I mean, they are not permitted to work any place in Japan. However, in fact, this support money is very little; only 1,500 yen as life cost per day and about 40,000 yen as house rent per month, this means only 85,000 yen per month. There are many refugees who have disorder in their body because they barely escaped from their country in their life. Such refugees want to go to hospital, but refugees do not have enough money to take even medical examination. In addition, they cannot entry health service, so they have to pay more much money to take medical care. In 2010, the budget for refugee is not enough, so government cut support money of 100 people. This makes more refugees suffer.

Second, the number that Japan gives approval of refugee is very few. At first, in 1982, Japan gave approval of 63 refugee compared to 530 people applied to permission to live in Japan as refugee. This means one person per 9 people could be approved as refugee. However, in 2010, although about 1,800 people requested refugee application, only 21 people could get it. This means one person per 90 people, the number is very small. This is because the regulation of giving approval is very strict.

Third, there are some people who have the prejudice for refugees. People sometimes watch the news that illegal foreign people commit a crime such as violence, theft… so people think that immigration has the possibility which they commit a crime. However, news focuses too much on only foreign people although Japanese also commit crimes every day. For example, according to the research in 2007, the ratio of the crime by Philippine is only 0.3 compared to that by Japanese is 1. Thus, refugee is not dangerous, we make refugees dangerous.

I think many people don’t know there are a lot of refugees in Japan because they think refugee is the problem which happens in far countries from Japan. However, it is not. Refugee is suffering now in Japan, too. We have to corporate with each other and create society which refugees can live safely and comfortably.

What Japan Can Do for Refugees

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by Satomi Toba

In this short report, I’ll look over the present refugee situation in the world and then, refer to what can we, Japanese people do for this issue. It is said that in the world, in 2010, there are about 15 million people who have been exiled from their native countries because of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion (the 1951 Convention). What is worse, it is estimated that the number of refugee records the highest number after 2000. What they have faced under the daily life is usually stricter than people think of: most of the refugees are women and young children whose husband/father was usually passed away because of conflicts. Those refugees have to live under harsh condition, including violence and social discrimination.

‘Arab Spring’ is regarded as an epoch-making incident for citizens and countries where dictatorship has lasted for a long time. It gathers the world’s attention and the big aftereffects are still on. At the same time, we must focus on some people who have become new refugees. The exact number isn’t available, however, Reuter reported that in 2011 the number of people who applied for refugee status increased by 20 %, compared to the last year’s one, due to that democratic movement. It reaches to 441 thousand in 44 developed countries.

Through the last 2 or 3 classes, I’ve learned that the Japanese system or foundation for refugees is smaller-scale, compared to that of other developed countries. Especially, I doubt of an odd system, which after they apply for refugee status, they are not allowed to work and earn money until the judge will be cleared. Usually, it takes about from 6 months to 1 year. As it is known widely, Japanese government doesn’t receive so many refugees like other countries. Thus, it can be said that the refugees inevitably face the economic problem while the application term, nevertheless the possibility to be recognized as formal refugee is too low. I strongly think that it is time for Japan to rethink about them, and not only do that but also take actions. For the first step, I suggest that Japanese government should do away with the strict rule on work activity while the application term. Instead of prohibiting working, it’s better to let them work as they want to. I think it will create new human relationship and social relationship between the refugees and our society. Then, more Japanese people will come to notice this severe problem and speak it out together. I think it is the start point.

Refugees in Japan: Problems and Solutions

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by Tomoka Otani

When we started to learn about refugees in Japan, I did not have any idea what their problems are or I did not care much about them because I have never met refugees in Japan. However, as I studied the situations of refugees in Japan, I came to think that we needed to improve the Japanese system of accepting refugees in order to provide them with better lives in terms of supporting them economically and mentally.

As we talked about the current situation of accepting refugees in Japan, I came to realize that the process which refugees are going through in order to become officially accepted refugees is quite tough. For example, from 1981 to 2005, Japan accepted only 376 people as refugees though it received 3928 applications from all over the world, and it is extremely few numbers compare to other developed countries. Why does Japan accept many fewer refugees than other developed nations? The biggest reason is that there are still discrimination and prejudice against foreigners in Japan especially in terms of immigrants and refugees who are thought to be unstable in Japanese society. They may have been discriminated against at work, daily lives, or school just by their looks or their status that they are immigrants or refugees. However, it is not surprising for me because I have never met people who are immigrants or refugees from other countries. I think, in generally, Japanese people are not familiar with living with foreigner, immigrants and refugees in the same society.

As I mentioned the biggest problem of accepting refugees in Japan, I am going to state solutions for the current situation of accepting refugees. Firstly, I think Japanese people have to be aware of the existence of refugees in Japan, we may have heard about them on the news or in the newspapers but we naturally think it is the problem of other countries because there are not many refugees around us. We need to change our educational system in order to introduce the existence of refugees and what they have been though in their home countries. Secondly, we need to change the governmental economical support for the refugees because their lives are not stable at first and they might not have enough money to support themselves.

As I mentioned above, changing people’s attitude toward refugees and economical support are the two main solutions that I think it is important in order to improve the current situation of accepting refugees and to provide refugees with better lives after their struggles. I know it is extremely difficult for Japanese people to accept foreign refugees because of our cultures and prejudice against them, however, refugees do not have any choice but to live in another society because of various threats from their home countries, and I personally think we need to reconsider the reasons why they had to escape from their home countries and we must treat them with some kind of respect.

The Reality of Refugees

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by Kohei Nomura

Today, many people come and go across borders. Some of them move to other countries to go sightseeing or study. These aims are based on the people’s free decision. On the other hand, there are people who necessarily migrate to other countries to escape suppression of idea or racial discrimination–refugees

According to The United Nation Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 43.7 million people were forced to move in 2010 (n.d., 2012). This number of displacement includes migration as refugees to other countries and in fact, 15.4 millions of people moved to other countries as refugees in the year. This statistic specifies that the number of refugees is much more than that we thought.

Unlike other kinds of immigrants, normally refugees have social protections of the host countries (Brown, 2011). The liberal countries think that the protection of refugees is their moral obligation. They can get support to get a job, and the way to live in the new country. However, the protections only save their legal status as the people living in the country, and of course their economy or identity are the things refugees must protect by their own efforts. According to Brown (2011), refugees do not make claims to economic discrimination. Their social and economic position of host countries’ society tends to be extremely low. Therefore, if refugees secure their existence by being immigrants, it does not always mean fulfillment or satisfaction of their lives. After they migrate, they should seek what they are and what their pleasant of life is.

The situation of undocumented refugees is more severe. UNHCR describes that in 2010, there are about 12 millions of stateless people (n.d.). They cannot be served any kind of social protections unlike normal citizen. Moreover, it is easily assumed that 12 millions of stateless people include many undocumented immigrants. They can never make claims and get protections even if they are terribly discriminated and violated. We should know the reality that in this world, there are many exposed lives as undocumented refugees.

In conclusion, as this blog post suggests, the situation of refugees are severe. Their social and economic status is very low, and undocumented immigrants can never get protections by any countries. We need to examine the reality of refugees more, and try to create the world that all people can fairly seek satisfaction of their lives.

References

Hana. E. Brown., (2011), Refugee, Right, and Race, Retrieved from http://static.lore.com/89ca074b416742f7b4e692ed65f85cf4/Brown2011Refugees%20Rights%20and%20Race%20How%20Legal%20Status%20Shapes%20Liberian%20Immigrants’%20Relationship%20with%20the%20State.pdf

The United Nation Refugee Agency (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.or.jp/ref_unhcr/statistics/index.html

Refugees in Japan

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by Daiki Nishiyama

In Japan, the number of refugees is surprisingly small. In fact, I haven’t met refugees in Japan and haven’t heard the news on refugees in Japan.

Japan has accepted 10,000 refugees since 500 Indo-Chinese refugees came to Japan 1979. But Japan has recognized 50 refugees out of 1100 applicants. Compared with other industrialized countries, the number of refugees in Japan is much smaller. Why doesn’t Japan accept refugees coming to Japan? It is said that there are some reasons about the situation. Firstly, Japanese people are concerned about deterioration in security in Japanese society by increasing the number of foreigners. But this is not the fact. Japanese people have a prejudice against foreigners. The number of foreigners does not have anything to do with the criminal rate in Japan. Secondly, Japan doesn’t have enough support for refugees. Even though refugees are admitted as refugees in Japan, it is difficult for them to get jobs and health support. They cannot get the health insurance. That is, refugees can suffer from many problems.

Although the number of admitting refugees is small, Japan donates a lot of money toward refugees’ policies. Some people insisted in the last class that if Japan admitted more refugees, it needed to use more money to support refugees in Japanese society. I think this statement is inconsistent and Japan needs to use more money to increase the number of refugees in Japanese society.

To change the situation now, we Japanese people have to understand the reality in Japan. Since we are ignorant about the Japanese not-enough policies toward refugees, the situation never change. As we know the bad situation toward refugees, the Japanese government would take some actions.

Refugees in Japan

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by Yui Matsushita

In 2010, Japan started a new program of reception of refugees called “a third state settlement”. It is the system that a third state receives refugees who can’t be protected by the first receiving country. Refugees do training in language and culture before leaving a country, and after arriving in Japan, they do training again for a half year and get support to obtain a job. After that, refugees will reside permanently in a local community. The Japanese government ranks this system as a principal program to increase the number of reception of refugees in Japan.

However, the number of recognition of refugees in Japan is very small compared with other countries. According to the Ministry of Justice, only 21 refugees were recognized in 2011 although 1,867 people applied for it. One of problems of Japan’s reception of refugees is that a reception setup and its contents are not enough. After a half-year training, support for refugees will be reduced drastically. Following this, local communities taking over support for refugees have to be burdened heavily. Also, Japan’s system of recognition of refugees lacks fairness because it is carried out by an Immigration Bureau which also cracks down on illegal immigrants. In addition, refugees have to prepare data establishing the status as a refugee, but it is almost impossible for them. Recognition of refugees takes a long time, and meanwhile, they have to suffer physically and mentally because the foundations of their livelihood and legal status are unstable. They also have to become frightened of deportation.

Furthermore, Japanese society still has a deep-rooted and stereotyped prejudice against foreigners that increase in immigrants will cause deterioration in security; however, there is not such fact in reality. The ratio of crimes committed by foreigners remains on the same level, while the number of foreigners in Japan is increasing. Also, there is research showing that crimes committed by foreigners are apt to be reported five times as many as those committed by Japanese people. It is obvious that there is a responsibility of media as well.

The most important thing is that originally Japan has already joined the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and has duty to international society to accept refugees. The present situation makes a shameful image of Japan as a state which does not carry out an international responsibility. Also, Japanese society should pay attention to merit accepting refugees, for example, they can be great working force in rural areas where depopulation is a serious problem. Under the present conditions, Japan is violating fundamental human rights. It has to reconsider the present policy toward refugees, and Japanese society has to be aware of this issue more.