Japan accepted 27 refugees last year and rejected almost all applications, officials said yesterday, as rights groups urged the government to allow more people in.
The country has long been nervous about an influx of refugees into its homogeneous society and has tightly restricted the number it accepts.
Of the thousands seeking refugee status, five were Syrian, only three of which were accepted — a far cry from the massive influx of Syrians into Europe from the war-torn Middle East nation last year.
The Japanese Ministry of Justice said it received a record 7,586 refugee applications last year, meaning more than 99 percent of requests were rejected.
Other accepted applicants included six from Afghanistan, three Ethiopians and three Sri Lankans.
The ministry said the number of refugees accepted last year was a jump from 11 in 2014 and six in 2013.
The Japan Association for Refugees said that despite the progress in recent years, more applicants should be accepted.
“We hope that [Japan] will hold discussions with [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] UNHCR and [non-governmental organizations] NGOs and swiftly consider measures to certify refugees in line with international standards,” the association said.
Human rights activists, lawyers and migrant communities in Japan have complained for years about harsh treatment by immigration officials and about conditions at detention centers.
The UN refugee agency said Japan is home to 2,419 refugees, compared with its G7 ally the US with 267,222 and Turkey, which has 1.8 million refugees.
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
Czech intelligence chief Michal Koudelka has spent decades uncovering Russian spy networks, sabotage attempts and disinformation campaigns against Europe. Speaking in an interview from a high-security compound on the outskirts of Prague, he is now warning allies that pushing Kyiv to accept significant concessions to end the war in Ukraine would only embolden the Kremlin. “Russia would spend perhaps the next 10 to 15 years recovering from its huge human and economic losses and preparing for the next target, which is central and eastern Europe,” said Koudelka, a major general who heads the country’s Security Information Service. “If Ukraine loses, or is forced
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
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