Presenter: Nobuyuki Tomiuga
Mentor: Kathie Carpenter
Oral Presentation
Major: International StudiesÂ
Refugees in Japan who entered the country without a resident status (official passport and visa) are not given the right to work or obtain health insurance during the refugee recognition application process. The application process usually takes more than three years, but very few are granted refugee status. In 2013, only 6 out of 3260 applicants were admitted as refugees, and 856 of the applicants did not have a resident status. This study includes interviews with refugees who had to survive in Japan without the right to work or obtain health insurance, even though they fled their home countries to evade persecution and seek protection in Japan. The interviews found that many face a choice between living without any income or working illegally to survive, even if they risk incarceration. Most abstain from seeing a doctor because they cannot afford to pay the full medical fee without health insurance. The study also includes the kinds of assistance various organizations, social workers, and professionals have been giving to those refugees in need, and found that there is a limit to the number of people they can help and the degree of support they can offer. As a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention, Japan has the obligation to protect refugees. The government needs to modify the legal framework by allowing refugees to work and obtain health insurance regardless of their legal restrictions, because these are fundamental rights for survival, and refugees often are unable to leave their countries with official documents.