The following year, just 42 people were admitted. Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act. Japan granted refugee status to just 6 of the 3,260 applicants in that year. In contrast, 21,171 refugees received formal asylum in the United States, 10,915 in Germany, and 9,099 in … The Japan Association for Refugees, based in Tokyo, was founded in 1999 to assist asylum seekers and lobby the government for a more generous refugee policy. Click the legislation title to view the full text. Refugee Law and Practice in Japan offers a balanced, yet critical appraisal of the refugee determination process, providing a comprehensive and perceptive analysis of a complex subject. It began accepting refugees in 1978 in order to grant resident status to refugees from Indochina. Japan acceded to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees on October 3, 1981, and to the 1967 UN Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees on January 1, 1982. The Refugee Status becomes a hot issue among all statuses in Japan due to its low approval rate. By highlighting the manifold shortcomings of the process, it explains why Japan has the lowest refugee recognition rate of all democratic industrialized nations—in single figures for most of the 1980s and 1990s. Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act Anyone who intends to seek asylum in Japan needs to apply for refugee status at an immigration office of the Ministry of Justice. Recognition Act after the actual date of enforcement of the “law for partial amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and the Special Act on the Immigration Control of, Inter Alia, Those who have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan” which was passed and enacted at the regular Diet Japan has no law prohibiting racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination, or discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. “For many, many years Japan had made the decision not to take refugees but made up for it by giving money directly to the UNHCR,” she said. Japan received 19,629 applications for refugee status in 2017; 20 people were accepted. In 2016, the Justice Ministry saw a record high 10,901 apply for refugee status. Japan is a Contracting State to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, and thus the Japanese authorities are competent to determine refugee status in Japan. Japan has never been famous for its acceptance of foreigners – and this insularity shows in its refugee policy. For all purposes of interpreting and applying law to any legal issue or dispute, users should consult the original Japanese texts published in the Official Gazette. Japan: Japan has not accepted many refugees in the past. Most of those asylum-seekers in Japan are coming from countries in …