Asia Pacific Jul 25, 2013

Abbott: use military on boat people

Australia’s conservative opposition unveiled plans Thursday for a military-led response to repel boat people, branding the problem a “national emergency” after the government declared a radical new policy aimed at crippling people smuggling. With tens of thousands of asylum seekers risking their lives on ...

World Jul 17, 2013

Syria exodus 'worst since Rwanda'

Each month, 5,000 people are dying in Syria’s civil war — which has now generated the worst refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, U.N. officials said Tuesday. A host of top officials called on the divided U.N. Security Council to take stronger action ...

National Jun 22, 2013

Show a fashion statement on asylum seekers

by Tomohiro Osaki

Dismayed by Japan’s low acceptance rate for asylum seekers, a student group organized a fashion show spotlighting ethnic clothes to raise awareness among their peers of the harsh reality facing the underprivileged worldwide. Organized by the group J-Fun Youth, the event titled “Why Blue?” ...

Social Issues Jun 2, 2013

North Koreans' hand-over 'dismays' U.N.

The United Nations and the United States on Friday took Laos and China to task for forcing nine young asylum seekers back to North Korea, warning that the countries were flouting international commitments.

Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT May 21, 2013

Fear and incarceration, from Kampala to Nagoya

by Stephen Carr

“I was stopped by two men in a government-registered vehicle, blindfolded and dragged off the street. They took me away to a house in a place I did not know. I was forced into a room with blood all over the walls and floor, ...

National May 10, 2013

Nation fails to make most of refugees

by Tomohiro Osaki

Refugees in Japan are acutely underutilized and the nation should stop turning a blind eye to their skills and potential if it wants to generate economic growth, according to freelance journalist Kaoru Nemoto, who describes them as “professionals of survival.” In a recently released ...

National Apr 9, 2013

Tokyo refugees publish cookbook

A group in Tokyo has published a cookbook on traditional dishes from the home countries of refugees living in Japan. “Umi o Watatta Kokyo no Aji” (“Flavours Without Borders”), published by the Japan Association for Refugees, provides 45 recipes contributed by refugees from 15 ...

Reference | FYI Mar 13, 2007

Japan is obliged to accept refugees, so why so few?

by Masami Ito

In 1981, Japan signed the U.N. 1951 Conventions Relating to the Status of Refugees and in 1982, it inked the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and enacted the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law. Signatories are obliged to give refugees due ...