JAPAN INTRODUCES PILOT THIRD COUNTRY REFUGEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 003485

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2018
TAGS: AORC PREF PHUM PREL SMIG JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN INTRODUCES PILOT THIRD COUNTRY REFUGEE
RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM

1.(U) Summary. Japan agreed to accept 90 Burmese refugees
currently residing in Thailand as part of a pilot third
country refugee resettlement program. The first refugees
will arrive in 2010. Some 30 Burmese will be accepted a year
until the pilot program's scheduled end in 2012. While
members of the NGO community continue to point out
shortcomings in Japan's refugee acceptance record, they also
note recent improvements and welcome the pilot program as a
step in the right direction. End Summary.


2. (C) On December 19, Japan formally adopted a UNHCR
program to allow third country resettlement. Under this
program, the Government of Japan will accept 30 Burmese
refugees in Thailand that the UNHCR has interviewed and
determined to be capable of adapting to life in Japan.
Takeshi Fukunaga Chief of External Relations with the
Ministry of Justice's Refugee Recognition Section, stated
that because the current Immigration Control Law only allows
screening of refugees to take place in Japan, "the 30 Burmese
pre-screened by the UNHCR will be rescreened upon their
arrival in Japan." Japan will continue this pilot program
for the next three years, for a total of 90 Burmese refugees.
Japan is the first Asian country to accept refugees under
this program, Fukunaga noted.


3. (C) In Tokyo on December 18, Prime Minister Taro Aso
personally conveyed to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
Antonio Guterres Japan's decision to participate in the third
country resettlement program. Despite signing in 1981 both
the UN Convention on Refugees and the 1976 Protocol on
Refugees, Japan has often been criticized for accepting only
a small number of refugees. Critics also note the long
processing times for refugee applications (an average of 20
months in 2007) during which time asylum seekers can neither
legally work nor be eligible for public assistance. Mai
Kaneko, Legal Assistant at UNHCR's Protection Unit, told
Embassy Tokyo the long processing times in Japan "have
somewhat improved in 2008, but official figures are not yet
available."


4. (C) In a separate conversation, Eri Ishikawa, Secretary
General of the Japan Association for Refugees agreed that the
Government of Japan is moving in the right direction.
Although official statistics are not yet available she stated
that a record number of more than 1,800 people had applied
for asylum in 2008. Of that number, 400-500 were granted
permission to stay on humanitarian grounds. Some 80 to 90%
of this group are Burmese. By comparison, in 2007 out of 816
applications for refugee status, only 41 were granted refugee
status, with a further 88 persons allowed to stay on
humanitarian grounds. However, Ishikawa noted "reception
conditions still need to be improved; we provide cash
handouts and food, but unless the refugees become eligible
for social security or are allowed to work legally, they have
little other alternative but to work illegally."
Adjudication procedures also need to be more fair and
transparent, she continued. Judged by actual cases, the
distinction between those granted refugee status and those
allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds seems arbitrary.
Refugees also have no access to a lawyer in the first stages
of the proceedings, and language interpretation problems
still exist, she added.
ZUMWALT