We offer settlement support program for Convention Refugees, their families and the resettled refugees such as Japanese language education course at RHQ Support Center in Tokyo.
Courses to be offered For Convention Refugees and their families ●Six-month course (the first term・the second term) : 5 days per week (Mon.-Fri. 9:30~15:50) ●One-year course : 5 days per week (Mon.-Fri. 18:30~20:55)
(The course schedule may vary due to changes in the curriculum.) For Resettled Refugees ●Six-month course : 6 days per week (Mon.-Fri. 9:30~15:50, Sat. 9:30~12:10)
Japanese Class
A. Japanese Language Education Course
572 units (1 unit = 45 minutes)
Japanese language education focusing on basic communication skills such as reading, writing, listening and speaking is provided.
B. Guidance for Japanese Life
120 units (1 unit = 45 minutes)
Knowledge of social systems in Japan, such as social insurance system, taxation system, etc. is provided.
C. Vocational Counseling Service
Career Counseling and Employment Assistance are provided to those who look for a job by job counselors as the services provided by public employment offices.
We hold seminars and lectures which are related to refugee issues. The aim of these activities is to deepen the understanding of general public, to foster specialists and volunteers for refugee issues and to develop partnership with NGOs in the field of refugee assistance.
The Government of Japan decided to accept Indo-Chinese refugees for settlement in Japan in 1978. The Coordination Council for Indo-Chinese Refugees and Displaced Persons was set up at the Cabinet Secretariat to move ahead on measures and policies for promotion of settlement. In November 1979, the government entrusted the work of settlement to the Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People (FWEAP), and the Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ) was established under the Foundation. Japan has accepted more than 11,000 Indo-Chinese refugees. This project was ended in March 2006.
Japan acceded to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and established a refugee recognition system in 1982. The Ministry of Justice examines each application for refugee status in the light of the Refugee Convention. (Convention Refugees) In August 2002, it was decided with cabinet approval to grant assistance for settlement to Convention refugees as well. It was also decided that the task for settlement of the Convention Refugees was to be entrusted to RHQ.
In December 2008, the Goverment of Japan decided by its cabinet approval to launch a resettlement pilot project. Based on the decision, Myanmar refugees from refugee camps in Thailand (18 families 86 persons) were accepted from 2010 to 2014.In January 2014, the Cabinet decided to accept Myanmar refugees from Malaysia after the five-year pilot program, and 6 families 19 persons were accepted as a third-country resettlement refugee in 2015. In 2016, 18 members of seven families, 29 members of 8 families in 2017, and 22 people from five families came to Japan to complete the settlement support program in 2018. In September 2019 , 20 people from six families came to Japan to implement a settlement support program. RHQ provided the Settlement Support Program to them.
The Convention※1 Relating to the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as “any person who…owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.” As of December 31, 2015, there are approximately 65.3 million refugees including internally displaced persons and “persons of concern” to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)※2. In addition, many other people have been forced to evacuate their homes. Countries including Japan, under the leadership of UNHCR, have been carrying out international protections and support activities for them. ※1 The definition of the legal protections and the status of refgees is stipulated in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Japan acceded to both of them in 1981. ※2 According to the United Nations estimates, the world population in 2015 is 7.349 billion. It is calculated that one in every 113 persons in the world is a refugee.
〈Who are Indo-Chinese Refugees?〉
Indo-Chinese Refugees are people who fled abroad by boats (boat people) or to neighboring countries by land (land people) to avoid the political disturbance and internal wars from three Indo-Chinese countries; Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia after the end of the wars in 1975.Approximately 1.3 million Indo-Chinese refugees have resettled in countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan via refugee camps in the Asian regions or as boat people.
〈Who are Resettled Refugees?〉
Resettled refugees are people who resettle from the country of first asylum to a third country, which agrees to accept those refugees.
Indo-Chinese and Convention refugees who have status of residence, and are settled in Japan are eligible to attend school or to work. However, many encounter difficulties due to the unfamiliar environment or insufficient Japanese language abilities. We provide counseling services at the Head Office, the Kansai Branch, and the following desks to give advice for refugees on various problems such as housing, medical care, education or family unification to support settlement of refugees in Japan. The refugee counseling desks are available at Yokohama-shi and Atsugi-shi in Kanagawa, Yao-shi in Osaka, Himeji-shi in Hyogo, and Nagoya-shi in Aichi, where a number of refugees settled.
●Counseling Desks
Place
Hours
Nearest Station
Contact
TOKYO・ KANAGAWA
RHQ Head Office
Mon.-Fri. 9:30-17:00
Exit 4, Hiroo Station (H03), Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line
TEL 0120-090091
(toll-free counseling line for Refugees)
TEL 0120-925357
(toll-free counseling line for Asylum Seekers)
TEL 03-3449-7029
(for Asylum Seekers)
TEL 03-5792-5207
(for Convention Refugees)
TEL 03-3449-7049
(for Indo-Chinese Refugees)
FAX 03-3449-7016
Izumi Ward Office, Yokohama City
Fri. 9:00-16:00
In front of Izumi Chu-o Station. Sotetsu Line
TEL 045-801-3738
FAX 045-801-3738
Ken-o Region Administration Center, Kanagawa
Wed. 9:00-16:00
15 min. on foot from Hon-Atsugi Station, Odakyu Line
TEL 046-223-0709
FAX 046-223-0709
HYOGO・ OSAKA・ AICHI
RHQ Kansai Branch
Mon.-Fri. 9:30-17:00
In front of JR Kobe Station, 11F, JR Kobe Eki NK Bldg.
TEL 0120-090091
(toll-free counseling line)
TEL 078-361-1720
FAX 078-361-1323
Osaka Yao City Office
2nd & 4th Wed. 10:00-16:00
(ByAppointment Only)
5 min. on foot from Kintetsu Yao Station
TEL 0120-090091
(toll-free counseling line)
※same as RHQ counseling line for Refugees
Hyogo Prefecture Himeji City Office
2nd & 4th Tue. 10:00-16:00
By bus from JR Himeji St, get off at Shiyakusho-Mae
TEL 0792-21-2759
Nagoya International Center
Thu. 10:00-12:00 13:00-16:00 (ByAppointment Only)
7 min. on foot from JR Nagoya Station
TEL 0120-090091
(toll-free couceling line)
Note: Counseling Desks are closed on national holidays and New Year holidays(Dec.29-Jan.3).
The counseling service for Indo-Chinese Refugees, Convention Refugees and their family members.
Examples of the issues for consultation
Daily Life
I want to know about administrative procedures and their system.
How can I rent a room?
I want to obtain information on child caring and education.
How can I receive scholarship?
How can I access to the hospital with smaller medical expense?
What is Kaigo-hoken (Nursing care insurance)?
I am involved in domestic violence or serious crime…
Where can I get legal aid services?
I need translation and interpretation service.
Japanese language education
What kind of study books are appropriate for my Japanese self-studying?
How can I find a volunteer Japanese language class?
How can I prepare for the Japanese language proficiency test?
Work
When your company bankrupts or when you are dismissed.
How should I find another job?
How can I have employment insurance?
What is workers’ compensation insurance?
How can I participate a vocational training course?
I want to know about the license for specific job area.
The counseling service for those who support refugees and asylum seekers.
Examples of the issues for consultation
Daily Life
I want to know about financial support for refugees.
What kinds of social services are available for refugees in Japan?
I want to know about hospitals for foreigners.
I want to know about the identification of refugees.
I want to know about legal aid services.
I know some refugee or asylum seeker who are at financial difficulty.
Japanese language education
I am a Japanese teacher and want to improve my teaching method and skill.
I want to teach Japanese. What kind of teaching materials do you recommend?
Where can I teach Japanese as a volunteer teacher?
I am supporting Japanese in the school or outside of the school. I want to have the opportunity for information exchange with the people in other communities.
Work
I want to employ a refugee.
What is the procedure of employment of refugees?
Are there any financial assistance for employers who employ refugees?
How can I improve my communication with refugees whom I employed?
How is the current situation of the employment of refugees?
The counseling service for asylum seekers.
Examples of the issues for consultation
I have working permit. How can I find a job?
How can I apply for the refugee status?
I want to know about various establishments and procedures.
I am sick, how can I access to the hospital with smaller medical expense?
We provide refugee applicants with financial assistance for living expenses, rent of accommodation, and/or medical expenses. These supports are provided for the applicants who are recognized as facing financial difficulties based on an investigation by RHQ. We also operate ESFRA (Emergency Shelter for Refugee Applicants). Advice for a daily life is offered as well.
Contact
7月30日(日)に、赤羽会館においてKeymon U Thaung氏の文芸講演会が行われました。Keymon U Thaung氏は1926年生まれで、ミャンマーの国民的新聞The Mirror Daily(Keymon)の発行を始めたジャーナリストです。同氏は60年代に米国に政治亡命し、現在は同国を拠点に活動しておられます。
講演会当日は、主に在日ミャンマー人や日本人関係者200人以上が会場に詰めかけ、同氏のジャーナリスト活動に対する関心の高さがうかがえました。同氏は3時間近くミャンマー文学や自らの歴史などについて語り、観衆は熱心に耳を傾けていました。
難民事業本部では、難民定住者のコミュニティー団体が実施する生活向上のための実践講座、情報交換や地域社会との交流活動に対して活動費用等の助成を行っています。
2005年6月22日には、神戸定住外国人支援センター運営のディサービスセンター「ハナの会」において、NGOベトナム in KOBE主催、神戸市看護大学保健看護学講座協力の「精神医療フォーラム in KOBE」を支援しました。
本フォーラムは、ベトナム人コミュニティー団体のNGOベトナム in KOBEが日ごろ実施している精神保健活動の知識向上を図るため、カナダのブリティッシュ・コロンビア大学医学部精神科臨床教授、バンクーバー地域精神科臨床部部長、バンクーバー総合病院多文化外来部長のソーマ・ガネサンさんを講師に迎えて開催されました。
講師のソーマ・ガネサンさんは、ベトナムで生まれ、小児科医として医療に従事されていましたが、サイゴン陥落とともに難民となり、フランスを経てカナダに渡られた方です。2年間は他の仕事をした後、医療にかかわるトレーニングを受けて再び医師となり、現在はカナダ国内の総合病院等で多文化間精神医学の実践を行うとともに、バンクーバー全域の臨床部門の長として新しいバンクーバーモデルの再構築に取り組まれています。