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