Japan has earned itself a reputation for turning away refugees and accepts only 1 percent of asylum-seekers who apply. Just 42 were accepted in 2018.
Today we speak with Hilmneh Tegegn Tesfaw, who for the last 11 years has battled Japan’s immigration system as he’s tried to claim asylum and earn refugee status. We hear about his love for the country, his troubles with immigration officials, where he thinks Japan's asylum system is heading and his longing to be reunited with his family. Interview by Jesse Chase-Lubitz, hosted by Oscar Boyd.
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Read/see more:
- Japanese society warms to asylum-seekers despite the government's cold shoulder (Jesse Chase-Lubitz, The Japan Times)
- Asylum-seekers in Japan are stuck in bureaucratic limbo (Philip Brasor, The Japan Times)
- Japan's refugee-screening system sets high bar (Chisato Tanaka, The Japan Times)
- Swe Myanmar: Sharing the flavors of home in Tokyo's 'Little Yangon' (The Japan Times)
- Refugee Assistance Headquarters Japan (RHQ)
- Japan Association for Refugees (JAR)
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