arrupe We have received support from the Welfare and Medical Service Agency’s WAM Social Welfare Promotion Grant Program for the 2021 fiscal year. We have prepared and published a report on the “Project to Support Refugees from Recovery to Independence through Empowerment and Social Participation.”
Project Supporting Refugees from
Recovery to Independence through
Empowerment and Social Participation
After One Year of Activities
We started this project with various plans and hoped to create a place for refugees and help them recover.
However, when we conducted the activities, we realized that things did not go as planned. Each of the residents came to our shelter after having experienced pain in their home countries, isolation, economic hardship, and incarceration in immigration facilities after coming to Japan. We realized that the wounds they had suffered were far deeper and more complex than we had imagined and that they would be unable to “recover” easily.
We also found that participating in activities was not easy for the residents. Even imagining just a few months into the future for residents on provisional release was painful and difficult. So planning and executing events as a community and preparing for the future by imagining life after obtaining residency status was a challenge.
During the days when plans could not be implemented as planned, we were forced to reconsider what we had initially set as our goals, such as what “recovery” means and what the state of “independence” is.
On the other hand, we saw residents laughing with each other, saying, “Everyone at Arrupe is family,” and heard comments such as, “I look forward to meeting people,” and “I am glad I can do something to help others,” through their involvement with people in the community. After spending time with the residents who gradually opened up to me, we realized the importance of relationships with others and a place in the community again.
We believe that these results could not be seen with conventional commuting support or support that only provides housing but only with the form of communal living.
We have also noticed a change in the local residents as a result of our active involvement with the community. People who initially had a scary image of refugees or thought that the issue was something far away and had nothing to do with them have become more interested in the current situation surrounding refugees as they meet the residents.
We began to hear many voices saying, “I want to be friends” and “I want to do something about this issue.” These changes led to the submission of an opinion letter from the Kamakura City Council requesting the government to review its refugee policy and efforts toward the Kamakura Nanmin Kyosei Forum.
We have learned over the past year that “relationships with people” and “a place to stay” lead to “recovery” for refugees. At the same time, we have also seen signs of acceptance in welcoming refugees into our communities. We will continue our activities to create a society that accepts refugees.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the many people who have supported and cooperated with us in implementing this project.
March 31st, 2022
NPO Arrupe Refugee Center
All Staff
