The decision by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week to accept 150 Syrians over the next five years as exchange students was described Monday by nongovernmental organizations involved with Syria as just one step toward Japan meeting its international responsibility to address the refugee crisis.
But they added that admitting the Syrians not as legal refugees but as students is cause for concern.
"Once they finish their studies here in Japan, their student visas expire and they might be forced to return to Syria. We will have discussions with the Japanese government about what to do. But the government also needs to work to ensure that once they graduate they will have the freedom to choose whether they want to go back to their country or, if the situation in Syria is still bad, to remain in Japan," said Hiroaki Ishii, executive director of the nonprofit Japan Association for Refugees.