Japan announces refugee criteria
The agency responsible for immigration in Japan has published the first ever guidelines for determining refugee status.
The guidelines would, according to the country’s Justice Ministry, promote transparency in the functioning of the system. They look at court decisions, existing practices, and the perspectives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Japan has historically been largely ethnically homogenous with little appetite for immigration. There has, however, been a rise in recent years in applications for refugee status in the country. Japan’s Immigration Agency said that in 2022, there were 2772 people who had applied to remain in Japan as refugees, a 56% increase on the previous year.
The guidelines recognise a refugee as someone in fear of life in his or her country of origin owing to a genuine and well-founded fear of persecution based on such grounds as race, religion, or political opinion. Sexual minorities would also be so recognised.
An official involved in refugee issues in Japan said that the guidelines were did not broaden the definition of refugees but were intended to set out criteria to make decision-making – by the state and by applicants – easier.
The most common countries of origin of refugees in Japan were Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Myanmar, and Pakistan. Japan had also accepted Ukrainians evacuated from the war.
Image by David Mark from Pixabay
