Slow, bureaucratic Japan no haven for world's refugees
The Asahi Shimbun (04-08-01)
Japan's acceptance of refugees continues to move at a snail's paceA man from Myanmar (Burma) in his 20s, who came to Japan to seek asylum from his country's military government, knows this only too well. He says he has felt only disappointment since his arrival.
``I looked up to Japan when I was in Burma because I thought it was a democratic country with a nonmilitary government,'' he said.
As a member of Myanmar's Muslim minority, he encountered ethnic discrimination there. Around 1988 he joined the student pro-democracy movement and went on to become one of the movement's leaders, taking part in demonstrations and sit-ins. He was detained three times by police and intelligence agents and was pressured to leave the student movement. In 1998, after one of his colleagues was arrested, he left the country, fearing he would be next.
After his arrival in Japan, he applied for refugee status. But 10 weeks later he was notified that the government had refused his application. The notice said there was insufficient evidence to show he had been persecuted.The interview by the refugee inspector at the Immigration Bureau took only two days. The man challenged the decision, but his appeal was also rejected. He subsequently filed a lawsuit seeking revocation of the decision.
He was detained for about a year at an Immigration Bureau facility, where his health deteriorated.Although he has since left the facility, his concerns have not been assuaged. He has been trying to make ends meet by working part-time at restaurants, and he lives in Tokyo with two other people from Myanmar who are also seeking refugee status.
Many people seeking refugee status have been rejected because of insufficient evidence. Immigration officials refuse to disclose how applicants' appeals are judged or to discuss individual cases.
Shogo Watanabe, secretary-general of a group of lawyers working to help applicants for refugee status from Myanmar, says immigration officials do not consider the reality that many applicants face.
``It is no wonder they have no evidence of persecution with them when they leave the country, because if they were found with such documents, they would face greater danger in their home country,'' Watanabe says. ``The notices they receive don't say how the reliability of testimony has been appraised or what aspects of the establishment of proof are inadequate. Even if we want to file an appeal, we cannot make specific counterarguments.''
Another reason many applicants are rejected is that under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law they must apply within 60 days of their arrival in the country. The U.N. Convention on the Status of Refugees contains no provisions about application deadlines.Immigration officials say refugees would want to seek protection as soon as possible after entering the country. They maintain that the passage of time makes it more difficult to grasp the situation individuals faced in their home countries and make the decision process more complicated.However, for many people arriving in a foreign country, it is far from easy to understand the procedures for applying for refugee status.
That was the experience of a Kurd traveling on a Turkish passport who entered Japan eight years ago. Not only did he not understand Japanese, but an acquaintance told him Japan had no system for accepting refugees. Although he eventually learned that Japan did have such a system and found out how to apply, he did not come forward at first out of fear he would be arrested because his visa had expired. He finally applied for refugee status three years ago, but his application was rejected because of the 60-day rule.
Since Japan began accepting refugees in 1982, 2,179 individuals have applied for refugee status. Of that number, 260 have been accepted. About half of those whose applications were rejected subsequently filed appeals, but only five have been granted refugee status.One factor behind the low numbers is that there are few immigration officials who deal exclusively with refugees. Although there are 42 immigration officers nationwide who interview applicants for refugee status and investigate their claims, most have other duties. There are only five who work exclusively on preliminary applications and two others who handle appeals.