Miyavi is on a mission to change Japan's tune on refugees
In his lesser-known role as a refugee advocate, Miyavi, aka the samurai guitarist, asks that people look beyond the headline numbers before declaring Japan unwelcoming to asylum-seekers. Despite Japan taking in only 42 refugees in 2018 — accepting less than 1 percent of applicants — ...
The U.N. Security Council is considering action to push Myanmar to work with the United Nations to address the Rohingya refugee crisis, although China and Russia have so far boycotted talks on a British-drafted resolution, diplomats said Monday. The draft resolution aims to put a ...
Myanmar asks Bangladesh to stop giving aid to stranded Rohingya refugees
Myanmar has asked Bangladesh to stop providing aid to 6,000 Rohingya stranded on the border between the two countries since a military crackdown prompted a mass exodus of the Muslim minority last year, the Foreign Ministry in Dhaka said. The group refused to enter Bangladesh ...
Syrian escapes Libya in tiny inflatable raft, saved by chance from rescuers' last minute check
A Syrian refugee has been saved at sea after a last-minute check by humanitarian rescuers with binoculars 20 hours after he set out solo in a tiny rubber boat from Libya, where he said he had been working as practically a slave for three ...
Nagoya High Court overturns rejection of Ugandan woman's refugee status
A high court in Nagoya on Thursday authorized refugee status for a 41-year-old Ugandan woman, overturning a lower court ruling that upheld the government's rejection of her claim. The Nagoya High Court recognized that the woman was warned to stop participating in political activities by ...
Introducing the complex refugee experience to Japan
The plight of refugees is dauntingly hard to comprehend for the majority of Japanese who have been brought up believing they live in a racially homogeneous nation. (Let's reserve the falseness of this belief for another story.) Eri Ishikawa, chair of the board of the ...
Manga artist Hasumi stirs outrage again with new book slammed as racist
After gaining the spotlight at home and abroad a few months ago over a controversial manga illustration denigrating a Syrian refugee girl, artist Toshiko Hasumi seemingly remains unrepentant. On Monday, anti-racism campaigners criticized the release of Hasumi's latest book featuring a series of what they ...
Desperate refugee recounts forced deportation to Sudan from Jordan after camp near U.N. hub closed
Ahmed Doury and his wife had fled their home in Sudan's Darfur region for safety in Jordan. But after Jordanian security forces violently rounded up and deported them and other Sudanese asylum seekers, the 32-year-old says he's now more determined than ever to go ...
Stretchered into Croatia, Kunduz refugee, 105, hopes to find peace, serenity in Sweden
She is 105 years old but still dreams of a better life without wars and bombs. Bibihal Uzbeki, from Kunduz, Afghanistan, is among tens of thousands of migrants who have traveled for thousands of miles fleeing war and poverty to search for a happier, safer ...
It's a small world, with no respect for islands
To what extent are your problems my problems? To what extent are Syria's troubles Japan's? To no extent at all, judging by the paltry number of refugees Japan admits. Europe, of course, is engulfed. But that's Europe's problem. Is it still possible to think that way? ...
Refugee Film Festival comes as world's eyes are on crisis
Last month, a heartbreaking photograph of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi's dead body washing up on the shore of Turkey was published by media outlets worldwide. He had fled his home in war-torn Syria with his mother, brother and father. Only his father survived the journey. Alan ...
Former child soldier and refugee Ger Duany finds a future in Hollywood
Ger Duany was only 13 years old when he became a child soldier in his home country of what is now South Sudan. Spending his childhood living in constant fear of being killed, he did what he had to — he picked up a ...
