Japan Immigration News

Immigration in Japan: Understanding Who is a Refugee

Release Date: 2025-06-21
Media: JAPAN Forward
Summary: Japan is often criticized for being "cold toward refugees" or accepting "very few" of them. While such views may have been more accurate in the past, Japan has, in fact, built nearly 50 years of experience in refugee support, emphasizing case-by-case evaluations and humanitarian consideration.

Since joining international refugee conventions in the 1980s, Japan developed a legal framework and began accepting Indochinese refugees—a policy that continued until 2005 and earned international praise.

Japan does not grant refugee status based on nationality or region alone. Instead, each asylum application is individually assessed. If the applicant meets the criteria of the Refugee Convention—such as fear of persecution for race, religion, or political beliefs—they are granted refugee status. If not, Japan may still offer humanitarian stay depending on the individual’s circumstances.

In 2024, 12,373 people applied for refugee status in Japan—a 10% drop from the previous year. Applicants came from 92 countries, with Thailand showing a sharp rise, possibly linked to a crackdown on illegal employment in South Korea and the redirection of labor broker activity to Japan.

Japan is working to better identify those truly in need of protection. It aims to speed up application processing, increase transparency, train staff, and enhance country-of-origin data. At the same time, the government is strengthening measures against system abuse, emphasizing the need for fair and efficient procedures.

While the Refugee Convention defines who qualifies as a refugee, key terms like "persecution" and "well-founded fear" remain open to interpretation, allowing each country some discretion. To address this, the UNHCR has issued guidelines encouraging consistent application of refugee definitions.

In today’s world, reasons for displacement go beyond persecution—civil wars, disasters, extreme poverty, and globalization all play a role. While digital communication has spread ideals like democracy, the gap between those ideals and the global refugee system is growing.

Ultimately, the article emphasizes that refugee acceptance remains a matter of national sovereignty and that this principle should continue to be respected, even as global refugee challenges become more complex and diverse.
Tags: Refugee Recognition

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