ISSJ's Assistance to Refugees in Japan and Applicants for Refugee Recognition

Assistance to Indochina Refugees

ISSJ was entrusted a project by Japanese government and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to promote Indochina refugees to settle in Japan and provided assistance for their social adjustment from the end of 1970s to 1980s. ISSJ organized and trained volunteers living all over Japan and consulted with the refugees about their settling in Japan and gave them support in various phases. The services included job finding, teaching Japanese language, childcare and schooling, accommodations, family problems, etc. ISSJ also gave advice for organizing Japanese language classes, financing school expenses and payment of fund for International Immigration Committee. ISSJ provided assistance for entrusting foster parents to minor refugees. Advice and assistance to Indochina refugees are still going on and assistance diversified as time goes by such as aging problems, financial insecurity, friction between generations, etc of permanent residents.

 

Present Assistance to Refugees

Many refugees still now enter Japan from various countries seeking for asylum, and there are about 1000 applicants for refugee recognition to the Japanese government for the last five years. Refugees in Japan and those of applicants for refugee recognition to whom ISSJ provides assistance come from nearly twenty countries including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Turkey. Screening are conducted for applicants for refugee recognition by the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the definition of Refugee Convention (refer to the following), however, because it takes time to get screening result, applicants are forced very insecure life financially as well as mentally. ISSJ is entrusted by UNHCR for counseling and assistance for social adjustment of refugees in Japan and applicants for refugee recognition. Services include finding jobs and residence as well as assisting various problems in every day life. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of applicants for refugee recognition of women with children and services include assistance for childbirth, nursery, schooling, etc. There are many difficulties for assisting refugees within the limited social resources and social workers strongly feel hardness and difficulties of refugees and applicants for refugee recognition in the Japanese society.

 

Cooperation with Other Organizations

Number of groups and organizations are involved in most of the assistances to applicants for refugee recognition and refugees in Japan and cooperation with other organizations is absolutely necessary for better assistance and strengthening assisting system. Therefore, ISSJ makes effort for constructing and maintaining cooperative relationship with other organizations.

A liaison conference started worldwide in 1994 for obtaining cooperation between NGOs as well as between NGO and UNHCR, and the conference named as Partnership in Action (PARinAC). PARinAC Japan Forum started in 1996 and the meeting is held once a month with the participation of a number of NGOs, which support refugees in and outside Japan. Also, Working Group on Refugee Assistance in Japan (RAJA) started in January 2000, and a regular meeting is held once a month. ISSJ has from the start participated in the PARinAC Forum and at present, as a member of RAJA takes part in activities such as making a handbook on living, etc. while deepening the relation with other NGOs and UNHCR for the better assistance to the applicants for refugee recognition and refugees in Japan.

Besides those meetings with other organizations, there is the Meeting for Cooperating Refugees, which is held by Japan Evangelical Lutheran Association where the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participate in, and ISSJ has taken part in this meeting from the beginning.

Refugee Convention As to the international convention concerning refugees there are "Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees" which was adopted by United Nation in 1951 and "Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees" adopted in 1967. These two altogether in general are considered as "Refugee Convention" and at present 141 nations joined this Convention, and Japan also became the nation concerned in 1981. According to the Article 1 of the Refugee Convention, "A refugee is defined as any person who is outside his/her country of origin and who is unwilling or unable to return there or to avail him/herself of its protection because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion."

 

Case 1: Indochina Refugee

A Vietnamese young man, who has escaped Refugee Camp in Thailand was granted to reside in Japan for long term basis because his brother, a former student studying in Japan, invited him to Japan and he arrived in Narita Airport with his family. He obtained an excellent school record at the three-month Japanese Educational Course of the Resettlement Center. The young man who had received education up to sophomore in a university in Vietnam wanted to continue studying in Japan and hoped to be placed in a foster home. ISSJ was requested by Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ) to find foster parents who would grant his request and conducted a home study of a Japanese couple who hoped to be his foster parents.

ISSJ considers the step of home study to be an important preliminary period of foster parents for receiving a foster child and supported foster parents mentally while giving them advice. From April of the following year he started his life at the Japanese couple's home and studied very hard to enter a national/public university while attending a course for preparing university examination at the Japanese language school. The Japanese couple, who became his foster parent had a son who was a university student. They, based on their experience of rearing their child welcomed this young man who felt lost in a different language, food and manner in Japan, and continued supporting him emotionally as well as financially. ISSJ has visited this foster parents home occasionally and given them advice.

 

Case 2: Individual Refugee

A man who has joined in anti-government movement in South East Asian Country escaped from torture and persecution by government authority, came to Japan to seek asylum. Since he did not hold a formal visa at the admission into Japan he was detained at the Immigration Center and from there he applied for refugee recognition to Japanese Government.

After one-year detainment in the Immigration Center he has been under provisional release. ISSJ advised him to apply for supporting fund to RHQ and helped him to find residence. He is now staying at the Guest House for Foreigners while receiving expenses for living and housing from RHQ. The period of supplying supporting fund from RHQ is 4 months in principle. Supporting fund will be cut off soon and he is now trying to find the way to support himself, but it is very difficult for a foreigner without Status of Residence to find a job. It takes long time to get refugee recognition, but while waiting for the recognition, applicants cannot receive enough administration service such as social insurance and public assistance.

He is now apart from his family and friends of his home country and cannot contact with them. He lives every day in anxiety while fighting with loneliness. It is an important service for ISSJ to provide counseling to support applicants for refugee recognition emotionally.

 

Case 3: Refugees - Mother and Child

The mother and child from the Middle East Asian Country who are applying for refugee recognition live in an apartment house on the outskirts of Tokyo. The mother has just arrived in Japan and she cannot find a job because she is unable to speak Japanese at all. Her husband who is also applying for refugee recognition has been detained at the Immigration Center and there is no prospect for his provisional release. Since the child reached the school age ISSJ made contact with the principal of a local school and provided assistance for schooling. There is an increase in the number of cases where all of the family members apply for refugee recognition and the needs to support their life in general including nursing and schooling of children, finding jobs for mothers, etc. are increasing.