Failure to protect refugees? Domestic institutions, international organizations, and civil society in Japan

Journal of Japanese Studies

Volumn 34, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 333-361

  Flowers, Petrice R ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 49949115329     PISSN: 00956848     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (76)

1. Masako Suzuki, "Required Reform of the Japanese Refugee Status Recognition System: Comparative Research with the Systems in the United States and New Zealand," unpublished manuscript, 2004.
2. Nina Tannenwald, "The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Normative Basis of Nuclear Non-use," International Organization, Vol. 53, No. 3 (1999), pp. 433-68.
3. Harold Koh, "Why Do Nations Obey International Law?" Yale Law Journal, Vol. 106, No. 8 (1999), pp. 2599-659;
4. Martha Finnemore, National Interests in International Society (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996);
5. Gil Loescher, The UNHCR and World Politics: A Perilous Path (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 5.
6. Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998);
7. Audie Klotz, Norms in International Relations: The Struggle against Apartheid (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995), pp. 94-100.
8. Richard Price, "Transnational Civil Society and Advocacy in World Politics," World Politics, Vol. 55, No. 4 (2003), pp. 579-606.
9. Kim Reimann, "Building Global Civil Society from the Outside In? Japanese International Development NGOs, the State, and International Norms," in Frank J. Schwartz and Susan J. Pharr, eds., The State of Civil Society in Japan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 308.
10. Michael Barnett and Martha Finnemore, Rules for the World: International Organizations in Global Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004), p. 7.
11. Ibid., p. 26.
12. Loescher, The UNHCR and World Politics, pp. 16, 283-84.
13. Barnett and Finnemore, Rules for the World, p. 35;
14. Loescher, The UNHCR and World Politics, pp. 338-39.
15. Richard Price, "Reversing the Gun Sights: Transnational Civil Society Targets Land Mines," International Organization, Vol. 52, No. 3 (1998), pp. 613-44.
16. Keck and Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders, pp. 12-13.
17. Reimann, "Building Global Civil Society."
18. Robert Pekkanen, Japan's Dual Civil Society: Members without Advocates (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006).
19. Reimann, "Building Global Civil Society"; Apichai W. Shipper, "Criminals or Victims? The Politics of Illegal Foreigners in Japan," Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 31, No. 2 (2005), pp. 299-327;
20. Miranda Schreurs, "Democratic Transition and Environmental Civil Society: Japan and South Korea Compared," The Good Society, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2002), pp. 57-64.
21. Barnett and Finnemore, Rules for the World, p. 37. Graham Allison, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (Boston: Brown & Little, 1971).
22. Ibid.
23. In Japan, the term NGO usually refers to Japanese organizations that operate outside Japan while NPO (nonprofit organization) is used to denote organizations with domestic operations. Throughout this essay, I use the term NGO in accordance with the broader international relations and comparative politics literatures.
24. Kurudo Jin Nanmin Nikazoku o Shiensurukai, Nanmin o oitsumeru kuni (Tokyo: JPCA [Nippon Shuppan Chosakuken Kyōkai], 2005).
25. Kohki Abe, "Protecting Whom? Japanese Refugee Policies Revisited," (Kanagawa Hōgaku) Kanagawa Law Journal, Vol. 36, No. 3 (2003), p. 27.
26. Although low acceptance numbers can also result in cases with high-quality procedures, such as in New Zealand, this article illustrates that Japan's low numbers may be related to the low quality of its procedures. The low numbers are intended to show that Japan is not in danger of being overrun by refugees and to highlight how the discourse around refugees is not borne out in the numbers who apply for or are granted refugee status.
27. Kohki Abe, "Protecting Whom? Japanese Refugee Policies Revisited," (Kanagawa Hōgaku) Kanagawa Law Journal, Vol. 36, No. 3 (2003), p. 27.
28. Statements made by UNHCR legal officer at an Interministerial Cabinet Meeting Relating to Refugees (an ongoing effort to provide information to refugees), Tokyo, November 26, 2003, and at a Refugee Assistance Japan meeting, Tokyo, December 3, 2003.
29. Changes to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act came into effect in May 2005. Among these changes is the abolition of the 60-day rule. The new rule does not impose a time limit for application, but if an application is submitted more than six months after arrival or learning of the changed situation in one's country of origin, legal status will be granted only at the discretion of the minister of justice. It is too early to tell the effect of the amendments. Since the events discussed here occurred before the changes were instituted, references throughout this article are to the system that was in place at the time, but changes are noted when applicable.
30. This is still required under the amended Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act.
31. Author interview, senior legal officer, UNHCR, Tokyo, July 22, 2005.
32. UNHCR, "UNHCR: Deep Concern over Refugee Deportation from Japan" (2005), http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/41ed2b804.html, accessed February 7, 2008.
33. Ministry of Justice Immigration Bureau memo to UNHCR, January 25, 2005. Original Japanese and MOJ English translation on file with author.
34. Honma Hiroshi, "Nihon no nanmin seido," in Nanmin Kenkyū Foramu. ed., Nanmin to jinken (Tokyo: Gendaijin Bunsha, 2001), p. 24.
35. Ibid, pp. 24, 26.
36. This action would also make these programs available to Japan's minorities-Koreans and Chinese from Taiwan-most of whom have been residing in Japan for three or more generations without citizenship rights.
37. For more specifics on Japan's adoption of the Refugee Convention, see Petrice R. Flowers, "The International Refugee Convention: National Identity as a Limitation on Compliance," in François Crépeau et al., eds., Forced Migration and Global Processes: A View from Forced Migration Studies (Boulder: Lexington Books, 2006).
38. Abe, "Protecting Whom?"
39. Watanabe Shogo, "Nanmin jōyaku no kokunaiteki jisshi: Nanmin nintei tetsuzuki," in Miyagawa Shigeo, ed., Gaikokujin hō to royaringu (Tokyo: Gendaijin Bunsha, 2005).
40. Author interview, senior legal officer, UNHCR, Tokyo, July 22, 2005.
41. The MOJ also convened the Fourth Policy Advisory Committee to consider three issues: the 60-day rule, treatment of asylum seekers during the process, and the appeal system. Its final report, Nanmin seidō ni kansuru kento kekka, in December 2003 brought together proposals from the three main parties and served as the template for amendments to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act that went into effect in May 2005.
42. Watanabe Shogo, "Ninon no nanmin jitsumu no genjō-bengoshi no tachiba kara," and Toki Hinako, "Kokkyō o koeru NGO no katsudo," in Nanmin Kenkyū Foramu, ed., Nanmin tojinken (Tokyo: Gendaijin Bunsha, 2001), pp. 31, 63.
43. Personal conversation with refugee who often serves as an interpreter for asylum seekers, Tokyo, July 15, 2005.
44. Abe, "Protecting Whom?" pp. 20-28.
45. Toki, "Kokkyö o koeru NGO no katsudo," p. 64.
46. Watanabe, "Nihon no nanmin jitsumu no genjo," pp. 29-30.
47. Toki, "Kokkyo o koeru NGO no katsudo," p. 63.
48. Author interview, refugee officer, Amnesty International Japan, Tokyo, April 26, 2004; see also United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "UNHCR's Comments on the Bill to Reform the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act of Japan" (2004), http://www.unhcr.or.jp/protect/pdf/ 040520comm_e.pdf, p. 12, accessed March 24, 2008.
49. Watanabe, "Nihon no nanmin jitsumu no genjo," p. 32. Many advocacy groups assist asylum seekers in addressing these problems. Organizations that offer counseling to refugees often intervene on their behalf with health care providers. This usually means that payment plans may be established or bills for care will be deferred; it is not the case that health care is free. A doctor in Tokyo has offered his services by providing free health checks for refugees and referrals when needed, but more specialized care still has to be paid for. On education, Japanese schools do not have Japanese as a second language established, and few schools offer instruction in languages other than Japanese. In addition, no national policy governs acceptance of refugee children; decisions are left to each local district. It is important to note, however, that like the children of foreign workers in Japan, compulsory education laws do not apply to refugee children. This along with the lack of second-language programs often means that children fall through the cracks.
50. Watanabe, "Nihon no nanmin jitsumu no genjo," p. 33.
51. Author interview, senior legal officer, UNHCR Tokyo office, July 22, 2005.
52. Suzuki, "Required Reform of the Japanese Refugee Status Recognition System," p. 13.
53. Author interview, senior legal officer, UNHCR, Tokyo, July 22, 2005.
54. Ibid.
55. "Advisory Opinion on the Rules of Confidentiality Regarding Asylum Information," http://www.unhcr.or.jp/protect/pdf/mar2005_advconf_e.pdf, accessed March 24, 2008; Finnemore, National Interests in International Society, chapter 1, especially pp. 5-7.
56. UNHCR officer at Refugee Assistance Japan meeting, Tokyo, December 3, 2003.
57. See Flowers, "The International Refugee Convention," for discussion of Diet meetings where naturalization of refugees was discussed.
58. Price, "Reversing the Gun Sights," p. 617.
59. Author interview with an attorney of the MOJ Immigration Bureau, Refugee Section, Tokyo, August 12, 2005.
60. Klotz, Norms in International Relations; Price, "Reversing the Gun Sights"; Keck and Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders; Kenneth R. Rutherford, "The Evolving Arms Control Agenda: Implications of the Role of NGOs in Banning Antipersonnel Landmines," World Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (2000), pp. 74-114.
61. Reimann, "Building Global Civil Society."
62. Pekkanen, Japan's Dual Civil Society, p. 7.
63. Sheldon Garon, "From Meiji to Heisei: The State and Civil Society in Japan," in Schwanz and Pharr, eds., The State of Civil Society in Japan, p. 43.
64. Keiko Hirata, Civil Society in Japan: The Growing Role of NGOs in Tokyo's Aid Development Policy (New York: Palgrave, 2002), chapter 1, especially pp. 30-36.
65. For more on the NPO law, see Robert Pekkanen, "Japan's New Politics: The Case of the NPO Law," Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 26, No. 1 (2000), pp. 111-43.
66. Petrice R. Flowers, Refugees, Women and Weapons: International Norm Adoption and Compliance in Japan (Stanford: Stanford University Press, forthcoming).
67. Author interview, refugee officer, Amnesty International Japan, Tokyo, April 26, 2004.
68. Amnesty International, "Japan: Inadequate Protection for Refugees and Asylum-seekers," Internationaljournal of Refugee Law, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1993), pp. 205-39.
69. Author interview with person in charge of research and policy advocacy who is also a board member for Japan Association for Refugees, Tokyo, September 8, 2003.
70. Author interview with person in charge of research and policy advocacy who is also a board member for Refugee Assistance Japan, Tokyo, October 6, 2003.
71. Personal communication from representative to Refugee Council Japan, July 2005.
72. Zenkoku Nanmin Bengo Renraku Kaigi, "Sanyo in no minnasama e" (unpublished memo, July 2005), outlines Zennanren's concerns about the new law governing the process of applying for refugee status.
73. Peter M. Haas, "Introduction: Epistemic Communities and International Policy Coordination," International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 1 (1992), pp. 1-35.
74. Author interview, director of research and policy advocacy, Japan Association for Refugees, Tokyo, August 2, 2005.
75. Shipper, "Criminals or Victims?" pp. 301, 314-18, 321-22, 324-25.
76. Kal Raustiala and Anne-Marie Slaughter, "International Law, International Relations, and Compliance," in Walter Carlsnaes, Thomas Risse, and Beth A. Simmons, eds., Handbook of International Relations (London: Sage, 2002).