Tin Win: In Japan, many illegal foreign workers have lost their jobs because of the recession. Most of
them have not consulted with the official agency; therefore the number of the unemployed announced
by the government does not include these foreign workers. The policies by the Japanese government
are discriminative. They have more protective measures for Brazilians of Japanese extraction but no
support for refugees who have no home to go back to. The media plays a very important role in publicizing this situation. The local governments also have a large role to play.
For Burmese refugees in Japan, no efficient local integration program is available. The Burmese
refugees in Japan today are people who had made applications for RSD and were recognized as
refugees. They are not resettled refugees. It is therefore different from third country resettlement cases.
Many of the Burmese refugees here are devoting themselves into political activities for democracy in
Burma and therefore lack a clear view of how to lead their lives in Japan. It becomes necessary for
them to think about their children’s education and the longer term settling into life in Japan.