The signature of this convention requires Japan to take part in alleviating the
refugee problem worldwide. This includes not just through its contribution to
UNHCR but also through receiving and resettling refugees (UNHCR 2003:28,
73-81). Although Japan has put in place procedures for recognition of refugee
status, the number of people who have received refugee status is very limited.
From 1982 to 2008, 508 out of 7297 applicants were granted full refugee status,
and 882 were granted special residence permission on humanitarian grounds
and 4399 applications were refused. Due to international pressure, however,
Japan is launching a three-year pilot initiative according to which 30 Karen
refugees will be coming to Japan per year for 3 years under the Protocol and
the Convention. Karen people are an ethnic minority who have been persecuted
by the military junta of Myanmar. The vast majority of Karen remain
inside Myanmar as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Those who have escaped
Myanmar currently live in refugee camps along the Thai side of the
Thailand-Myanmar (some have lived there for 20 years). It appears that Japan is moving to favour the resettlement of refugees by invitation only. Those who are not ‘invited’ (irregular migrants and asylum seekers) are locked up in detention centres, where the treatment has been criticized inhuman (Rafiq 2010).
This in itself is not exceptional, since detention is now widely used for failed
asylum seekers and other ‘irregular’ migrants worldwide, however few highincome
countries have such a strict ‘invitation only’ policy. Some critiques
point to the government’s decision to ‘invite’ Karen refugees as a public relation
exercise for the international community rather than being “humanitarian assistance”, as the government has claimed.