Abe weighs opening Japan to ‘dozens’ of Syrian refugee students: report
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to lawmakers following his reappointment as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo on Thursday. | BLOOMBERG

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Abe weighs opening Japan to ‘dozens’ of Syrian refugee students: report

AFP-JIJI

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will attend a United Nations meeting next week, Tokyo said Friday, where he will reportedly announce support for Syrian refugees.

Abe may creak open his country’s notoriously tight immigration policy by accepting some refugees fleeing fighting in war-torn Syria, local media reported.

A four-year civil war in Syria has killed some 250,000 people and caused about 4 million to flee abroad, contributing to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Details of Abe’s planned speech at the U.N. were not immediately available.

Ahead of Abe’s trip to the U.N., Japan on Friday announced plans to extend a ¥480 million ($4 million) emergency grant in response to the refugee crisis in Europe.

Japan will give ¥240 million ($2 million) to the U.N. refugee agency and development program “in support of Syrian refugees and host communities in Lebanon,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“This emergency grant aid is to provide such support as improving self-reliance of Syrian refugees and strengthening local governments,” it added.

Tokyo will also grant an additional ¥240 million mainly to Serbia and Macedonia, where many refugees and migrants pass through on their way to the European Union bloc, it said.

“The world always has various problems, including the issue of Syrian refugees who are going to Europe,” Abe told a news conference Friday.

“As we are in such a period, I will express Japan’s strong intention to contribute to the world’s peace and prosperity.”

In response to the influx of refugees fleeing to Europe, Japan is mulling accepting “dozens” of Syrian students, which would slightly open the country’s usually closed door for migrants, the Asahi and Mainichi newspapers said Friday.

Japan is known to tightly control the number of immigrants and asylum-seekers it accepts.

Tokyo has given refugee status to just three Syrians thus far out of about 60 fleeing the war-torn nation, the Asahi said.

Last year, Tokyo accepted a total of 11 refugees, whose nationalities are not disclosed, after some 5,000 from 73 countries sought such status in Japan, according to the Justice Ministry.

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Shinzo Abe | REUTERS Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to lawmakers following his reappointment as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo on Thursday. | BLOOMBERG

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  • Liars N. Fools

    That is so generous of you, PM Abe. I do not have the words to adequately express my views about your stance.

    • Clickonthewhatnow

      Well, to be honest, Abe should make sure all the people from that disaster 5 years ago are properly set up with somewhere to live before worrying about people from other countries. Before doing a lot of the BS that Abe has been doing, as well.

    • COYP

      Japan is (for now) overpopulated, resource and land poor, heavily in debt, has a large portion of the population dependent on government funds, is on the other side of the world from Syria, is not responsible for the instability in the Middle East (unlike other players) and still gives billions and billions in aid to lands ruined by war and poverty.

      With all that in mind if the number of refugees accepted is greater than zero then it should be seen as an act of generosity and not sneered at by pompous, sanctimonious expats who would probably soil themselves if a group of young refugee males moved in next door (because lets be honest the women and kids have been left on the titanic while the fellas grab the lifeboats).

      By the way, upvoting your own comments makes you come across as being really insecure about your opinions. HTH.

      • Jim Jimson

        I will sneer all I want, thanks.

        Iceland is more culturally homogenous than Japan, less dependent on oil and American imperialist policy, poorer, and much geographically smaller than Japan, yet they are welcoming more refugees.

        In fact, large swaths of Japan are seriously underpopulated (the so-called 過疎地), and local governments consistently attempt to re-people them. Only geographically small urban centers like Tokyo/Yokohama and Osaka are arguably overcrowded.

        There’s also nothing unique about the dependence on government funds in Japan; consider, for example, how in both the UK and US the collapse of domestic industry has forced a significant portion of the now-unemployable working class onto the disability rolls so as to keep unemployment statistics repectable.

        Japan also gives a relatively low portion of its GDP as foreign aid. (It’s rank 18.)

        As a major oil consumer and participant in the Iraq War, Japan is part responsible for the crisis and able to help solve it. But it simply refuses due to a combination of institutionalized and popular racism.

  • J.P. Bunny

    “Dozens.” That could mean a total of 24.

    • Jim Jimson

      He probably said 数十人 in Japanese, so the real total could be as low as 20 and he wouldn’t be lying. :(

  • Douglas

    Just send monetary aid, they won’t be happy in Japan.

  • nosnurbd

    A big problem for everyone, this mass exodus of displaced persons. A new culture on the move hoping for security. For a small country such as Japan, tightly knit as it is, a foreign cultural group would be difficult to assimilate. Certainly Japan is obliged to help, but the amount and extent must be balanced with its own self interests. Might there be a time limit? Are the migrants expecting to stay in their new countries indefinitely? How about fixing the countries they are fleeing?

    • Tando

      What about fixing the narrow minded world view of the Japanese.

      • nosnurbd

        Tanda, and fix their block-headed-ness as well. One of their big mistakes is taking orders from the US. If they are smart they will aim at becoming the Switzerland of Asia. Japan has not been an independent country for 70 years now. That’s another thing that needs “fixing”, don’t you think?

      • nosnurbd

        Tanda, and fix their block-headed-ness as well. One of their big mistakes is taking orders from the US. If they are smart they will aim at becoming the Switzerland of Asia. Japan has not been an independent country for 70 years now. That’s another thing that needs “fixing”, don’t you think?

    • David

      In calendar year 2014, Japan accepted six refugees. SIX. Yes, not six thousand, but six, the number you can count with your fingers and would fit inside an average Toyota.

      Given the current world situation it is ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS that Japan allows everyone else to take in tens of thousands while shrugging its shoulders on regarding its own responsibilities as a rich, populous country.

  • David

    It is truly staggering that – essentially in acknowledgment of its WWII actions – Germany is willing to take in nearly ONE MILLION refugees in the space of one year while Japan is willing to only take in DOZENS. How is this in any way morally conscionable? How is this possible from a rich, industrialized country with a population 60% higher than Germany’s?

    The honest question to ask is how many million refugees did Japan CREATE through its wartime actions seventy-five years ago?

  • David

    Prime Minister Abe, just be honest – don’t talk about solving issues at home or birthrates or other rubbish. Just say it – “WE DON’T WANT ANYONE WHO ISN’T JAPANESE.” Tell the truth.