Refugees To Face A High Wall For Settling In Japan

BY KANAKO MIYAJIMA, WATARU NAKANO, KIM SOONHI AND HIROYUKI TAKEI THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Karen refugees from Myanmar (Burma) boarding a bus from Narita Airport on Tuesday (TAKU HOSOKAWA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

Arrangements to support the 18 refugees from Myanmar (Burma) who arrived in Japan on Tuesday as part of a UNHCR third-country resettlement program are flawed and may leave them unable to establish normal lives in Japan, according to refugee support workers.

The 18 refugees from three families--all members of the minority Karen tribe--are the first of about 90 refugees due to relocate in Japan under the U.N. refugee agency's resettlement program.

On their arrival at Narita Airport on Tuesday morning, the refugees looked surprised to see photographers in the arrival lobby.

"I am happy to be in Japan, rather than feeling anxiety," one woman said.

They will live in Tokyo and undergo a crash six-month course on living in Japan that officials hope will equip them for a lifestyle that is profoundly different from the one they left behind.

During the first week, they will learn how to use a gas range, electric appliances and garbage disposal rules.

They will then embark on intensive language education and life skills training.

The Refugee Assistance Headquarters, which is affiliated with the Foreign Ministry, will be in charge of the training. At the end of the six months, the refugees will essentially be left to their own devices. They will have to find their own housing and will be expected to secure employment.

Hiroko Sakurai, who heads the nonprofit organization Association for Supporting Refugees' Settlement in Kanagawa Prefecture, said six months of Japanese language training is not sufficient.

"Unless they speak Japanese, they can't get a job," said Sakurai. "Stumbling at the beginning could be a start of a vicious circle--unable to communicate, unable to find a job and unable to make a living."

It is a job of the welfare ministry to offer or introduce jobs. Two counselors from the ministry will work at the facility where the refugees are staying.

But welfare ministry officials say that opportunities for the refugees to access job training may be limited. After the resettlement program finishes, many refugees may find it difficult to find appropriate professional training, the officials said. There are no job training programs aimed specifically at refugees.

Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, which is home to 1,200 Burmese, has a six-month training program for foreign residents.

Despite the ward's willingness to help with the government's refugee program, one official said the central government had shown little understanding of the municipal government's processes.

The ward office said it received a request from the ministry for help in July. The Refugee Assistance Headquarters began looking for a place for the refugees to live and only secured the accommodation on Sept. 16, just two weeks before the refugees arrived.

A citizens group in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, volunteered to host the refugees during their resettlement and started to organize a symposium on refugees. However, a city official complained that the ministry did not provide detailed information.

Eri Ishikawa, secretary-general of the Japan Association for Refugees, said the government, support organizations and refugees already settled in Japan should have discussed the issue together before the refugees arrived.

Source: The Asahi Shimbun