We were featured in an article introducing our activities on the front page of the evening edition of the Tokyo Shimbun.

We call each other by name.

Think of it as your own thing. 

Support Shelter in Kamakura Gives a Boost to Japan’s Refugee Policy

September 18, 2021 (Saturday) Tokyo Shimbun evening edition, front page

The online article can be found here.

The opening of Japan’s largest shelter for foreigners applying for refugee status, the Alpe-Nanmin Center, in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, has led to increased interaction between the foreigners living there and local residents. The director of the shelter says, “When people call each other by name, they begin to think of refugee issues as their own business. We would like to convey from Kamakura the absurdity of Japan’s refugee policy. (Maki Ishihara) 

At a multigenerational exchange event in July, a Sri Lankan man, when asked what his favorite food was, replied in fluent Japanese, “If it’s Sri Lankan food, it’s curry, and if it’s Japanese food, it’s gyoza.” 

He came to Japan in 2016, fearing for his life due to political strife, but was repeatedly detained in immigration detention facilities because he was not recognized as a refugee. After coming to the shelter in June, “I finally relaxed,” he says.

◆Providing food, clothing, shelter, and a place to learn Japanese to those who are applying for refugee status

　Three people from the shelter participated in the event. A Ugandan man said, “There are many delicious foods in Uganda, but the best is banana.” 

The participants showed the location of their home country on a world map and enjoyed a performance by a local music group together, deepening their friendship.

　The shelter was built last April. It is a Jesuit facility in the mountains, rented free of charge. It has about 30 private rooms and currently houses 10 people from Asia and Africa. The shelter is operated by the Arrupe Refugee Center, a non-profit organization established by people involved in refugee support groups. The center provides food, clothing, shelter, and a place to learn Japanese to those who have been provisionally released but are unable to work while applying for refugee status. Kenji Arikawa, 59, secretary-general of Arrupe, regrets that “the public does not have a high level of interest in refugee issues.” Japan’s refugee status is extremely low, and human rights abuses by the Immigration Bureau have become an issue, such as the death in March of Wishma Sandamari, then 33, a Sri Lankan national detained at the Nagoya Immigration and Resident Management Bureau.

　According to Mr. Arikawa, what is needed to change such a situation is to create a relationship in which people can call each other by their first names. “If people wonder why “〇〇-san” is not granted refugee status, they will realize that Japan’s refugee policy is wrong.”

◆Local exchange little by little…and sending out messages to the whole country

　Some of the children in the shelter attend the same kindergarten as their own children, or are treated to dishes from their home countries as a thank-you for teaching them Japanese. After seeing each other many times, local people can become more familiar with the refugee issue. Those who are in the process of applying for refugee status can gain a foothold to live in Japan after their status is approved.

　Despite the COVID19 pandemic, local children sometimes come to visit and work together in the fields on the premises. Local organizations are donating food, and exchanges are gradually beginning to take root.

　In July, the city council passed an opinion piece calling for the government to review its refugee policy, including refugee recognition and institutionalization. Mr. Arikawa hopes that the community he fostered in Kamakura will spread throughout Japan. 

Kamakura City Council, “Kamakura City Council Urges the State to Review Refugee Policy” (July 2, 2021)

Refugee Shelter in Kamakura: To Restore Closed Hearts and Minds (Asahi Shimbun, July 28, 2021)
*available only in Japanese

YouTube “Arrupe Channel”
You can see our activities and videos of World Refugee Day events.

Request for your support
The activities of Arrupe Refugee Center are supported not by government or official support but by your donations. We appreciate your support.

Arrupe News Letter No.2 (July 2021)
*available only in Japanese

A member of Arrupe Refugee Center was interviewed, and the article was published in the evening edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on Monday, April 19.

The interviewee was Ms. Mundele from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In the interview, she talks about the difficulties of living in Japan while applying for refugee status.

“Many refugee claimants are unable to show their faces and appear in the media for fear of persecution, so if I can show my face and be interviewed in this way and have many Japanese people read the articles, everyone will be happy, and I will be happy to be of service to everyone.”

Ms. Mundele was happy and satisfied, holding the completed article in both hands.

There is also a video version of the news available on the Internet.

Life-saving “Refugee Recognition” and “Special Permit for Residence” 

Considering the issue of long-term detention and repatriation of foreign nationals

Many so-called “undocumented foreigners” live in Japan for various reasons. However, the Japanese government has been detaining them indefinitely in the detention facilities of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (Immigration Law) or deporting them because they have already been issued a deportation order under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (Immigration Law). In this 21st installment of our series on human rights violations against “undocumented foreigners,” we introduce Arrupe Refugee Center, a non-profit organization that opened a temporary shelter for refugees (hereinafter referred to as “the Center”) in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, a little more than six months ago. The following is an update on the Center (introduced on April 26).

A Society Where Refugees Can Live Comfortably

The Center is located on the grounds of the Jesuit Monastery of the Japanese Martyrs, a 15-minute bus ride from JR Kamakura Station. Currently, eight people, including young children, are living together. For the past six months, Mr. Kenji Arikawa, the NPO’s secretary-general, has been going through a process of trial and error to find the best way of communal living, but after M, a Myanmarese who entered the center in September, took on the role of a meal attendant, he was able to find a way for all the residents to live together and it has become possible for all residents to sit together around the dining table, and the facility is gradually becoming more like a “community.

Many of the people living here are on “provisional release,” meaning that they live outside the immigration detention facility and are prohibited from working, so they spend their daytime cleaning the building and grounds or working in the fields. On Sundays, they attend church or other religious services according to their religious beliefs.

Refugee Backgrounds Are Diverse

The backgrounds of the residents vary, but many bear scars of trauma. Mr. B, a Ugandan who has been in Japan for 20 years, had once studied in Japan and was a teacher at a national technical school. However, he was fired for criticizing the government and was subjected to repeated harassment, and he left his country because he feared for his life. He spent ten years on parole in Japan and once spent two weeks homeless in a park with no money or place to live.

F, a Sri Lankan, was a bodyguard for a minister in his home country when an armed group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), attempted to kill him and shot him. His father and brother were killed, he said. He has been living in Japan for 20 years but suffers from insomnia due to the trauma in his home country.

On the other hand, Mr. A, an Iranian, was persecuted for his admiration of Christianity, left Iran, crossed the Mediterranean Sea by boat, and received refugee status in Greece. However, he lost his job due to the economic crisis and came to Japan, relying on a friend. He has been living on provisional release for 12 years and is anxious about his situation with no clear future.

When such applicants for refugee status who have fled their home country are detained in an immigration facility due to a lack of status of residence, they need (1) an address (living base), (2) a guarantor, and (3) a deposit in order to apply for “provisional release”. For them, having a place like the Center, which provides a place to live free of charge, is a source of “safety and security.” The Center’s residents unanimously say, “This place is heaven because it is safe.”

Providing A Place to Meet and Connect

Many refugees say they are lonely and need someone to talk to. They are eager to connect with people outside the community, integrate into it, and make more friends. However, with the COVID19 pandemic, it is difficult for them to go out and socialize in the community.

While working as a refugee aid worker at the Catholic Tokyo International Center (CTIC), Mr. Arikawa created “places where people can meet refugees” through Japanese language classes and lunch services at Meguro and Hongo churches in Tokyo.

“If you’ve never met a refugee, the refugee issue can seem like a story from a distant land. But if you become friends with refugees, just hearing news about Myanmar, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Iran, and so on, your heart will be moved. Then the refugee problem becomes your problem, and you start thinking, ‘What can I do to help? The person in front of you is no longer a refugee but a friend with a name,” says Arikawa.

Therefore, the “Center” is also a place for local children’s choirs to practice and for civic groups to interact, providing a “place to meet refugees.” In addition, the center goes with refugees (residents) to training sessions of monastic associations and accepts university seminar classes to help them feel closer to the refugees and promote their understanding of refugees.

Refugee Recognition Rates are an Indication of the Human Rights Situation

There are more than 80 million refugees worldwide, and more than 10,000 foreigners apply for refugee status in Japan every year. Mr. Arikawa has something he wants to convey to the refugees.

If the Center’s residents were to apply for refugee status in another developed country, they would meet the requirements and be fully recognized as refugees. In Japan, however, their applications are rejected no matter how often they apply. Mr. Arikawa gives the following example.

In Iran, converting from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death, and people like Mr. A. who are interested in Christianity are put under surveillance by the authorities just for talking about it. But the Japanese immigration authorities recognize that even if you convert, it’s okay if you pray quietly and don’t let others know. Because they make judgments based on their own knowledge, there are a lot of unsubstantiated claims of ‘okay,’ resulting in a refugee status rate of 0.4%.

The Refugee Convention is a system of protection by the international community for those whose human rights are not protected in their home countries.

“It is said that the criteria (level) for admitting a person as a “refugee” are determined in each receiving country, and these criteria indicate each country’s awareness of human rights and human rights situation. I believe accepting refugees is an opportunity for us to reconsider our awareness of human rights (respect for others). I feel that accepting refugees is essential to make our Japanese society more prosperous as a member of global citizens,” stressed Mr. Arikawa.

November 8, 2020, at the Arrupe Refugee Center in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Refugees (residents) sharing their experiences with Sophia University students

The Catholic Newspaper, December 6, 2020

The Arrupe Refugee Center (President: Katsuya Enokawa), a non-profit organization established by people involved in refugee support groups, opened on April 1 in the Jesuit Monastery of the Japanese Martyrs in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, to provide comprehensive support to refugees who have fled persecution in their home countries to Japan.

The center, made possible by the Jesuits’ free loan of the building and grounds, will engage in the following three activities, with Mr. Kenji Arikawa, a Tokyo Diocese employee who has long provided support for refugees at the Catholic Tokyo International Center, as its executive director.

The first is to support refugees to settle in Japanese society by providing (1) free shelter, (2) a place to learn the Japanese language and culture, (3) assistance with the application process for refugee status, (4) interpretation and translation support, and (5) employment support.

The second is to serve as a bridge between refugees and Japanese society, holding seminars and other activities to help Japanese people deepen their understanding of refugees.

The third is to work with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), which operates in 56 countries worldwide, to create a system to enable refugees to settle in third countries, both at home and abroad.

The shelter utilizes part of the “House of Meditation” on the premises, and Mr. Arikawa, the executive director, explains why the shelter was set up.

“In reality, there are many cases where people fleeing persecution in their home countries who wish to apply for refugee status at Japanese airports (immigration checkpoints) are sent directly back to their home countries or to facilities of the Immigration Bureau (Ministry of Justice, Immigration and Residence Management Agency), where they are detained for years. A public-private partnership system called “Alternatives to Detention” (ATD) allows such people to live in the community instead of being detained in an immigration facility. We hoped our shelter would serve as a place to receive such people.” 

On the other hand, refugee status applicants detained in immigration facilities cannot apply for “provisional release,” which allows them to live outside the facility if they do not have a physical address in Japan. The Center intends to handle such cases as well.

Cooperation between Church and Society

Although Japan is a signatory to the Refugee Convention, the refugee status recognition rate is extremely low at 0.3% (FY 2018). Furthermore, it takes years to receive a decision on whether or not to grant refugee status. During this time, applicants for refugee status are placed in a mentally, economically, and legally precarious situation, and many are forced to live on the streets before they are connected with private assistance.

The Arrupe Refugee Center has taken the first step toward improving such a situation. The “Arrupe” used in the center’s name comes from Father Pedro Arrupe, a former Jesuit chancellor who founded JRS in response to the horrific situation of the Indochina refugees.

At the shelter, applicants for refugee status have already started living there. They are preparing for independence by learning Japanese culture and language while healing emotional wounds in a communal living environment. The shelter will also retain its function as a Jesuit “House of Meditation” where believers from various cultures can pray freely.

The Center is funded by donations. For support and more information, call 0467-55-5422 or visit the website at https://arrupe-refugee.jp/enまで.

Catholic Newspaper, 4/26/2020