{"id":917,"date":"2020-10-28T12:09:08","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T03:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.issj.org\/en\/?post_type=info&p=917"},"modified":"2020-10-28T12:09:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T03:09:09","slug":"new-initiatives-during-the-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"info","link":"https:\/\/www.issj.org\/en\/info\/917","title":{"rendered":"New Initiatives during the COVID-19 Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In light of the increased severity of the COVID-19 in Japan and worldwide, ISSJ is expanding its support for refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since early April, when the spread of the virus became more serious, we have been receiving a large number of calls from people in need. Although we quickly adopted remote work, we have never closed our office so that we can promptly respond to phone calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We first received calls from people experiencing anxiety related to sudden change of their life circumstances, such as fear of unpaid rent or availability of medical treatment for coronavirus infection. Then, as the virus spread and prolonged economic depression, there have been increasing numbers of calls for food aid. At the same time, we have received more and more inquiries from migrant women regarding their pregnancy and childbirth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Impact on Refugee Community
<\/strong>We received phone calls or messages asking for help since they cannot rely on their friends or relatives who have supported them but now are suffering from unemployment or a pay cut due to the COVID-19. They said with sorrowful voices, \u201cI cannot ask for support any more because I really feel sorry\u201d, or \u201cI hesitate to ask\u201d. Although mutual support network in ethnic community has been regarded as quite strong as compared to Japanese society, it is increasingly under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impact on Migrant Mothers and Children
<\/strong>Excessive anxiety and stress during pregnancy may seriously impact the development of baby. Lack of information, language barriers, and limited financial resource, makes it more difficult for migrant women to access hospital or public social services on their own, and tend to be isolated until just before the birth of their child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children and Education<\/strong>
During the two-month period when Japanese public schools were closed, home education became significant more than ever, which boosted online learning opportunities. On the other hand, some of migrant mothers expressed their feeling of shame since they cannot support their children in the pandemic due to their insufficient language skill for home education and lack of online study environment at home. The existing education gap may further be widened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the immigrant and refugee families, parents lacking experience of learning at Japanese school have faced the issue of home education adapted to Japanese school curriculum (see Figure 1). Although there are plenty of educational materials on the Internet, it is difficult for them to choose and make the best use of them due to the aforementioned language barriers. For most of migrant children, school is the only place for learning, however with closure of schools, anxiety keeps going up among parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

< Figure 1 ><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In response to this situation, ISSJ started emergency support focusing on the following four target areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n