Japan to accept more refugees

Japan plans to accept more refugees in response to growing criticism that the nation gives money to help refugees but shuts its doors when they seek shelter, sources said.

Under a new program known as resettlement of refugees in third countries, Japan will accept people living in refugee camps overseas based on recommendations by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Japan will become the first Asian nation to introduce the program, and will accept about 30 refugees, possibly people from Myanmar (Burma) who are now in Thailand, in fiscal 2010 at the earliest, the sources said.

Senior officials from 11 related ministries and agencies, including the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Cabinet Secretariat, will meet July 29 to pave the way for approval of the program at a Cabinet meeting later this year.

The relevant ministries will also decide by year-end on the details, such as annual quotas for refugees accepted, the screening standards, training facilities for those accepted, and budget requests for fiscal 2009 for the program.

Japan joined the U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1981.

However, the number of people granted official refugee status here pales in comparison with other industrialized nations.

For example, Japan gave official refugee status to 41 people in 2007. In the same year, 14 nations, including the United States and European countries, accepted about 75,000 refugees from Myanmar, Iraq and other areas.

Under the new program, Japan will send missions to camps overseas to interview UNHCR-recommended refugees and confirm their intention and capability of settling in Japan.

The plan will make it easier for Japan to determine if applicants deserve refugee status while enabling Tokyo to accept refugees who cannot afford to travel here to seek asylum.

Currently, Japan rejects many applications for refugee status filed by foreigners illegally staying in the nation.

According to a 2007 survey by the UNHCR, the number of refugees fleeing military conflicts, political persecution and natural disasters was about 16 million people around the world.

The resettlement program has drawn increased attention as a measure to reduce the burden of neighboring countries that the refugees are fleeing from.

Behind Tokyo's shift in its refugee policy is the view spreading in the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that Japan will have to accept more refugees to fulfill its humanitarian responsibility as a member of the international community. In addition, Japan has to increasingly depend on foreign people for labor as the population ages and the birthrate remains low.

Some analysts have voiced concern that the government will select only refugees who are easy to accept in the screening process.

Mari Kawamura, associate professor of international relations at Kyorin University, said the government should put priority on refugees who are not provided sufficient protection at refugee camps.(IHT/Asahi: July 25,2008)