Southeast university Sayef Amin +8801924122222

1. Southeast University
Dept. of Law & Justice
Course Title: International Refugee Law
Course Code: LLBH 4212
Date of Submission: 24-04-2012
Assignment On
Refugees Protection in Japan

2. What is Refugee “Protection”?
Refugees Persons who are not protected by their own country, while they are
(or they may become) victims of serious human rights violations.
A refugee is someone who is in need of protection and would be at risk if they
returned home. In everyday English, the word „refugee‟ is often used to mean
people who have fled danger which could arise from war, political persecution,
famine, economic crisis or natural disaster.
Under international law, however, the word refugee has a very precise meaning.
Governments and the United Nations decide whether a person is a refugee status
using the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees. According to the
convention, a refugee is someone who:
“…owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political
opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such
fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…”
A person is only classified as a refugee when they are outside their own
country.
An individual may still be a refugee even if nothing bad has happened if
they are likely to be persecuted in the future.
It is not always countries persecuting individuals but groups within
countries. An individual becomes a refugee if their country can‟t protect
them.
Mostly individual states decide whether an individual is a refugee or not
and whether they should receive protection based on the UN Convention.
Even people who are at risk of persecution may not be recognised as
refugees if they have committed serious crimes such as a war crime.*
What is refugee “protection”?
 To reinstate and protect human rights of refugees by country of asylum as
a surrogate for the country of origin
 The Principle of Non-Refoulement (Article 33, 1951Convention)
Protection covers the whole spectrum of a refugee‟s life in Japan,
including entry to integration.

3. Who Protects Refugees?
 Government has primary responsibility to protect refugees
 Citizens and the civil society also play an important role
 UNHCR cooperates with government and civil society to ensure refuge
protection.
 And maintaining the rule of Convention 1951 & 1967 protocol.
UNHCR:
History:
 The League of Nations had named Norwegian, of Nansen, to the post of
High Commissioner in 1921.
 UNHCR succeeded the earlier United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
Administration.
 At first, UNHCR mandate was limited and extended by every five year.
Purpose:
 UNHCR has two basic and closely related aims – to protect refugees and
to seek ways to help them restart their lives in a normal environment.
 UNHCR promotes international refugee agreements and monitors
government compliance with international refugee law.
 UNHCR seeks long-term or so-called 'durable' solutions, repatriation,
local integration and resettlement.
UNHCR in Japan:
 Japan� State Party� whole asylum system (including RSD Procedure)
 Immigration Bureau of Ministry of Justice conducts refugee status
determination
 UNHCR Role: Supervision of implementation of 1951 Convention
Article 35:
1. The Contracting States undertake to co-operate with the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and shall in particular
facilitate its duty of supervising the application of the provisions of this
Convention.
2. Supervision of the implementation of 1951 Convention:
 To support the main actors, i.e. the government of Japan and the civil
society, in order to achieve the common objective of protecting
refugees

4.  To carry out macro and micro level activities under the division of labour
and cooperation with various partners, including the government,
NGOs, lawyers and scholars.
What is the role of UNHCR?
o For government�
o Adviser, consultant, partner
o For NGOs�
o Coordinator, resource person, partner
o For refugees and asylum seekers�
o Supporter, advocates
Providing legal/policy advice and Country of Information:
 Immigration Bureau, Minister of Justice
 Courts
Training and capacity building activities:
 Training for the Immigration Bureau Officers (RSD officers etc)
 Provision of lectures on refugee law
Assistance to individual asylum-seekers/refugees:
 Provision of legal/social counseling (Outsourced to NGOs)
 Integration assistance in cooperation with universities and enterprises.
Public information activities:
 Enhancing understanding of Japanese public regarding admission of
refugees in Japanese Society
UNHCR and NGOs:
Assistance to individual refugees by UNHCR through funding/cooperating with
implementing partners
 Japan Association for Refugees (JAR) ：provides legal/social
Counseling
 Protection of refugees‟ rights by providing comprehensive support
including legal/social counseling （rights-based approach)
 Registration on behalf of UNHCR: Identify needs and gaps, which
 UNHCR makes use of in its advice to relevant counterparts.

5.  Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA)：Legal
Counseling/Representation
 International Social Services, Japan Counseling mainly for persons in
detention centers/persons with illness
 Support 21: Japanese language classes
 Forum for Refugees Japan (FRJ): NGO Mechanism
Implementation of the convention covers the whole process, not
only “RSD”
 Fair and efficient asylum procedure
 Reception conditions during RSD procedure
 RSD criteria
 Integration of refugees (solutions)
Fair and Efficient Asylum Procedure in Japan:
a) Respect for the principle of non-Refoulement -
Prohibition of expulsion to the country of origin or another country
Article 33 (1), 1951 Convention
No Contracting State shall expel or return (" refuter ") a refugee in any manner
whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be
threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group or political opinion.
b) Access to asylum:
 Access to procedure
 Access to due process
 Access to information (e.g. How to apply for the refugee states)
 Access to UNHCR
c) Access to legal counseling:
Objective of Legal Counseling：
To help asylum seekers and refugees understand their own role in the asylum
process and to enhance the possibility for refugees to be recognized
In many States, legal counseling is provided with government funding.
There is no such programme in Japan funded by the government.
UNHCR‟s implementing partners provide legal counseling.

6. d) Independent appeal
• Due process requires an independent body to examine and decide at the appeal
level
• Introduction of Refugee Examination Counselors by Revision of the law in
2004
•Will Refugee Examination Counselor System functions as an independent
appeal?
Reception Conditions for Asylum-Seekers:
Access to means of livelihood, housing and medical care
 Asylum-seekers should be given with opportunities to work during RSD
procedure
 Housing and basic medical assistance should be provided to asylum
seekers
 Assistance should be extended to those in judicial review
Alternatives to detention
 Government should seek alternatives to detention.
The RSD Criteria:
 Do immigration officers properly determine refugee status in accordance
with the international standards?
 Work of immigration officers: registration, interview, providing
interpreters
 Immigration bureau staff receives trainings on RSD. It would be useful to
expand such training opportunities.
 Issues relating to interpretation of definition of persecution,
standard/burden of proof, credibility assessment (use of benefit of the
doubt)
Complementary forms of protection
 Japan has granted the humanitarian status to individuals
 What are the criteria of granting such a status?
Japan’s Refugee Policy:
 Looking back on Japan‟s Refugee Policy immediately after World War II
is meaningful not only from the chronological aspect, but also from the
standpoint of its formation, which has been influenced by the new
Japanese Constitution. The significance lies in the relation between the
spirit of refugee protection and principles of the Constitution. The

7. protection of refugees, which is declared in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, has
been closely related to this principle of respect for human rights. It is
necessary to discuss further details of relevance between refugee
protection and respect for human rights. Refugee protection can be
defined as a safeguard for those who fled into other countries because
they have been in imminent danger of being persecuted or deprived of
freedom in their homelands. They are entitled to access protection outside
their countries where no obligation exits.
 Although refugee protection and human rights protection are not exactly
the same, their similarities and connections can help the human rights
protection to come to completion. Using this point, it is understandable
that refugee protection is linked with the principle of human rights
protection connected to the new Japanese Constitution enacted after
World War II. Therefore, it is right to assert that a refugee policy or
system, which had never been stipulated in the new Japanese
Constitution, should have been legitimatized in order to protect refugees.
However, in reality, the principle regarding the protection of refugees was
not ever explicated, nor was the policy proposed. In general, Japanese
people have been the least likely to be aware of refugee issues. Only a
small number of Japanese showed interest in the 1951 UN Refugee
Convention. The indifference toward refugee affairs continued in
Japanese society until May 1975, when the arrival of Vietnamese asylum
seekers was reported. Today, the Japanese attitude toward refugee
protection still remains passive, which has affected the implementation of
the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of
Refugee within Japan.
 Historically, the government of Japan has taken a relatively restricted
approach to the protection of refugees. In fact, the government refused to
accept Russian asylum seekers who fled the Russian Revolution of 1917
and who were under Russian refugee protection policy, the first
international coordination on refugee affairs. Moreover, at the end of the
1930s, many Jewish people left their countries because of oppression
from the Nazi regime. Some of them, who were safeguarded by the
international protection policy, escaped to Japan, but their application for
refugee status was denied. A few exceptions were asylum seekers given
refugee status in Japan because of a governmental plot: the government
wanted financial aid from Jewish financial cliques for invading foreign
lands to promote Japanese colonization. It was extremely rare, but some
political activists from Asian countries received refugee status from the
Emperor of Japan by his imperial prerogative

8. Resettlement in Japan: Bringing Refugees to Better Protection
and Integration:
Japan has played a leadership role in the region and around the world in the
humanitarian field. It has been offering refugees favorable protection conditions
and a lasting solution. When the government of Japan established the
resettlement pilot project in December 2008, the first of its kind in Asia, it took
another considerable step towards providing refugees residing in Mae La
refugee camp in Thailand with a good chance at living in safety and dignity.
While resettlement is a tool of refugee protection and durable solution, it
involves several intricate and complex phases. In each phase, there is a range of
activities conducted by resettlement countries, UNHCR and other stakeholders
including international organizations, local governments and civil society
groups. Each of the activities may involve tasks and issues that require proper
and delicate handling, and often the cooperation of several of the stakeholders.
In general, the phases can be consolidated into two main phases, pre-departure
from the country of asylum and post arrival to the country of resettlement. The
relevant activities in phase one range from profiling refugees in need of
resettlement, matching them with the most appropriate resettlement country, a
government led refugee selection process, medical check, reorientation program
while in the county of asylum. In the country of resettlement, the relevant
activities in phase two range from cultural orientation, language training,
housing and material/non material assistance programs for midterm, and
education, job referrals and naturalization for long term.
Several ministries of the government of Japan, UNHCR, IOM and other
stakeholders have closely collaborated for over 2 years to establish a good start
for this pilot project. Within a few weeks, the first group (around 30) will arrive
to Japan filled with aspirations for a more secure life. There are also
expectations that the refugees contribute to and integrate well in the Japanese
society. This symposium will offer a good opportunity for governmental and
non-governmental stakeholders, including refugees, to discuss the challenges
ahead and build on lessons learnt from similar previous experiences. As the
symposium aims to be as comprehensively informative as possible, two panels
will focus on the most pertinent issues relating to the pre-departure and post
arrival phases.

9. The resettlement process will undoubtedly have a concomitant positive impact
on Japan but like with most traditional and recent “resettlement” countries, it
will face a number of challenges. There are many questions that will be
addressed in this symposium. Among other factors, how these challenges are
addressed and managed will correlate to the success of the process. You are
cordially invited to attend and participate in the open debate that this
symposium attempts to launch
Acceptance of Refugees by Japan:
The Government of Japan decided to accept Indo-Chinese refugees for
settlement in Japan in 1978. The Coordination Council for Indo-Chinese
Refugees and Displaced Persons was set up at the Cabinet Secretariat to move
ahead on measures and policies for promotion of settlement. In November 1979,
the government entrusted the work of settlement to the Foundation for the
Welfare and Education of the Asian People, and the Refugee Assistance
Headquarters (RHQ) was set up under the Foundation.
Japan had accepted more than 11,000 Indo-Chinese refugees. This acceptance
of Indo-Chinese refugees was ended in March 2006.Japan acceded to the
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and established a refugee
recognition system in 1982. The Ministry of Justice examines each application
for refugee status in the light of the Refugee Convention. So far more than 500
people have been recognized as refugees (Convention Refugees) by the Minister
of Justice. In August 2002, it was decided with cabinet approval to grant
assistance for settlement to Convention refugees as well. It was also decided
that the work for settlement of the Convention Refugees was to be entrusted to
the Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People.
Integration of Refugees (solutions):
Is it possible for refugees to integrate into the host society?
 Local Integration is one of the durable solutions to refugee problem.
 Civil society plays an important role to integrate refugees into local
society, not only government and UNHCR.
 Other solutions
 Voluntary repatriation
 Resettlement

10. Refugees International Japan (RIJ): is an independent, not-for-profit
organization dedicated to raising funds to assist refugees who have been
displaced as a result of war and conflict. Operating out of Tokyo, we are staffed
by volunteers from the Japanese and International communities. RIJ channels
project funds through experienced organizations already working with refugees
out in the field, ensuring that assistance goes quickly and directly to where it is
most needed.
We provide hope to refugees by funding projects that rebuild lives and restore
human dignity in a sustainable and community-orientated way. RIJ operates
according to a strict code of accountability and transparency, so that you can see
for yourself exactly where, when and how your donation is making a difference.
Refugees International Japan is supporting community activities for those who
have been affected following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in
Tohoku.
The Revised Refugee Recognition System:
The Immigration-Control and Refugee-Recognition Act was revised in the
national Diet in 2004, and with the goal to provide appropriate and expedited
protection to refugees through more equitable procedures, the following points
in the system of refugee recognition were reviewed and the revised provisions
took effect on May 16, 2005.
Establishment of a system for granting permission for provisional stay:
This is a system for illegal foreign residents who have filed applications for
recognition of refugee status. Individuals meeting several requirements will be
granted permission for provisional stay by the Immigration Bureau. The period
of the provisional stay is three months, and those who wish for an extension of
the provisional stay must apply at the Immigration Bureau. Deportation
procedures are suspended during this time, and refugee recognition procedures
are carried out. Since this system is available to illegal foreign residents, such
individuals cannot work even if they are granted permission for provisional
stay.

11. Stabilization of the legal status of illegal foreign residents who have been
recognized as refugees:
With regard to illegal foreign residents who have filed an application for
recognition of refugee status, a judgment will be made simultaneously on
whether they will be recognized as refugees and on whether they will be granted
permission to stay in Japan. If illegal foreign residents recognized as refugees
satisfy certain requirements, they will uniformly be granted permission for
provisional stay, and even if they do not satisfy the requirements, they may be
granted special permission for stay at the discretion of the Minister of Justice.
Review of the appeal system
For the purpose of increasing equity and neutrality in the procedures for refugee
recognition, a system of refugee examination counselors was established, in
which the counselors participate in the procedures for the examination of
appeals as a third party. When an applicant for refugee recognition is denied
refugee status, and files an objection to the decision, the Minister of Justice will
make a decision on objections concerning the denial of recognition of refugee
status after hearing the opinions of the refugee examination counselors. Refugee
examination counselors will be able to take an active role in the procedures for
examination of appeals by observing the procedures in which the petitioner or
intervener presents his or her opinions, hearing their opinions directly and
asking them questions.
Japan's Refugee Policy Exposed:
At the Japanese consulate in Shenyang, China, guards in Chinese military attire
dragged away asylum seekers from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(North Korea). This shocking scene was broadcast throughout the world. There
has been mounting criticism of the statement by Mr. ANAMI, Japan's
ambassador to China, that the asylum seekers should be "turned away," and
against the actions of the vice consul who happened to be present. The issue has
highlighted the fact that Japan's overseas diplomatic representatives are legally
unprepared to handle an incursion of people seeking protection, and Prime
Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro has suggested that the system be reconsidered.
Yet the actions of those involved are precisely an outcome of Japan's refugee
policy, which is based on the principle that "we may send money out, but we
will not let people in." Ever since Japan signed the International Convention on
Refugees twenty-one years ago due to foreign pressure, it has managed through
skillful use of hon'ne (true sentiment) and tatemae (outward stance) to avoid
confronting the refugee problem.

12. One bit of proof: at an international conference on aid for the reconstruction of
Afghanistan, Japan made appeals for great outlays of funds, while at home it
continued to detain Afghans who had come to Japan seeking protection.
Furthermore, due to American demands (as one might expect), a special
category was established for refugees from Indochina and ten thousand people
were admitted. However, asylum seekers of different nationalities have been
strenuously excluded. This is illustrated by the case of Chinese democracy
activists at the time of the Tiananmen incident. Out of consideration for bilateral
relations, they were not recognized as refugees but merely given special
permission to stay in Japan. The use of this approach, which leaves asylum
seekers in a "gray zone", continues to this day. Precisely because the world has
ushered in the 'century of human rights', the Japanese government's double
standards on refugees are being exposed. I would like to report on issues that
became apparent while covering events in Japan and Afghanistan.
Conclusion:
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as "any person
who…owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political
opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such
fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not
having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual
residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is
unwilling to return to it."
As of December 31, 2007, there are approximately 31.7 million refugees
including internally displaced persons and "persons of concern" to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In addition, many other
people have been forced to evacuate their homes and it is said there are now
more than 50 million refugees and internally displaced persons. Various
countries including Japan, under the leadership of UNHCR have been carrying
out protections and support activities for them internationally.
 The responsibility of states: to provide security and solutions
 The role of UNHCR: to cooperate with the government and NGOs in
Japan for the common objective to protect refugees
 The role of civil society: to support, facilitate, advocate and assist