UNHCR’s Second-Largest Donor
Japan’s closed-door refugee policy is the subject of continuing criticism at home and abroad. Refugee-support groups in Japan call for the government to comply with international norms in providing asylum, and observers worldwide note the mismatch between Japan’s massive global presence in the economic realm and its virtual nonpresence in the realm of hosting refugees.
The criticism of Japan’s stance is understandable and perhaps warranted. However, any discussion of Japan’s role in addressing the global refugee crisis needs to take another important factor into account, namely, Japan’s large indirect contribution to humanitarian support. Japan is the second-largest donor to the UNHCR after the United States; in 2014 Japanese disbursements to the UNHCR totaled $181.61 million.
Furthermore, in 2011 both houses of the Diet adopted a resolution that committed Japan to developing a comprehensive asylum process and to assisting refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide. They adopted the resolution unanimously on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the UN Refugee Convention. That gesture received favorable attention worldwide as the first such resolution by any national government.
Other promising developments also warrant attention. For example, an advisory group to Japan’s justice minister prepared a proposal in 2014 for revising the nation’s refugee policy. The group noted the increasingly diverse modes of persecution that spawn refugees across the globe and called for developing new means of refugee protection and assistance to address that diversity. In that and other ways, Japan is undeniably bolstering its contribution to alleviating the global refugee crisis.