Japan Welcoming Refugees from Ukraine: Humanity or Politics

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida stated that his country is ready to accommodate refugees from Ukraine which is experiencing a crisis. (Source: Reuters)

The Japanese government has made great strides in its policy-making regarding the reception of refugees from Ukraine. This action was made by the government, it can be said that it really draws public attention, knowing that Japan is not a hospitable country for refugees. However, the decision of the Japanese government to accept refugees is a form of Tokyo’s firm action against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The invasion carried out by Russia against Ukraine made the Ukrainian people who were affected by the invasion of their country, flee to find a safer place to survive. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, nearly 6.6 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland since the Russian invasion began on February 24. It is recorded that more than 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled to Poland, and other neighboring countries, such as Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. This has attracted the attention of a country known as refugee-unfriendly, like Japan, to change its policy in accepting refugees from Poland. It can be seen when the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, announced that Japan would take in evacuees from Poland to help ease the pressures on Warsaw ( Fumio Kishida, 2022)

Humanity Influences Policy

The situation in Ukraine is getting increasingly tense, where an increasing number of refugees are seeking sanctuary. This requires a great sense of humanity to help one another. Thus, Japan has also shown solidarity in the Ukrainian situation as Prime Minister Kishida said, “Demonstrate our solidarity with the Ukrainian people at such a crucial moment” (Kishida,2022).  Kishida’s remarks came after he held talks with the prime minister of Poland, which hosts more than 800,000 refugees who have fled Ukraine since the invasion began. Japan’s acceptance of refugees has started in March 2022, most of whom are women and children. 

An “ulterior motive”

Japan’s decision earn the support of the Japanese people, such as Daisuke Sugimoto, secretary-general of the Tokyo-based Japan Lawyers Network for Refugees, who affirmed his full support for this government decision. However, this made the action taken by Japan from another point of view that Sugiomoto criticized, in which he considered the policy regarding refugees to have a political element. It can be seen when so many wars that created humanitarian crises occurred, such as in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, and other places, but Japan only empathized when it happened to Ukraine. This is attributed to critics of the notion that Tokyo is showing an increasing desire to play a greater role in global security issues as it seeks support from Europe for its most pressing concerns such as the presence of an increasingly influential and expansionist China. The possibility of political involvement is also strengthened because Japan, is often seen as not a gracious place to refugees, which is in line with, Eri Ishikawa’s statement. As the chair of the Japan Association for Refugees, she stated that “The Japanese government fails too often to see refugees and asylum-seekers as people who have been the target of torture or abuse or as individuals whose lives are in danger” (Eri Ishikawa, 2022).

“Many more people are living in situations that are just as dangerous in other parts of the world and that more must be done to help them,"

Eri Ishikawa, chair of the Japan Association for Refugees

Author: Aloysius Benediktus Armando Jahang

Editor: Dustin Rashidi Hasan, Hafsyah Azzahra, Jennifer Clara Aprilia & Viranty Yulia Putri

Reference : 

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