Japan’s policies helped Myanmar refugees to rebuild their lives

Myo Myint Swe was a 22 year old pro-democracy activist when he decided to leave Myanmar because life was getting too dangerous for people like him. A friend suggested he flee to Japan, while most of his friends went to the US and Canada. Even if the first few years in Tokyo were extremely difficult and challenging, he is now on his way back to his country 22 years later, armed with a graduate degree from the University of Tokyo, a wife and daughter and a desire to build a society that allows people to “think freely and live peacefully.”

His story is just one of hundreds of Burmese refugees who sought asylum in Japan to escape a military regime. People from Myanmar constituted a major part of the country’s administration policies for refugees. The Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau showed that 14,299 foreigners applied for refugee status between 1982 and 2012, with the Burmese accounting for 4,583 or 1/3 of them. Between 2003 and 2011, Myanmar was the top-ranked country in terms of applicants. Even in 2012, when their government was already under democratic rule, there were still 368 applicants. Since 1982, a total of 616 foreigners have successfully obtained recognition as refugees and more than half of them are Burmese.

But compared to other industrialized countries in North America and Europe, Japan’s numbers are pretty low. In 2011, the US had 10,000 recognized refugees while Canada had around 6,000. However, Japan is trying to make up for the numbers by helping more of the Burmese refugees with their “third-country resettlement” program, focusing on the minority group Karen, who are being persecuted by the Muslims in Myanmar. Most of the Karen refugees are living in camps in Thailand, but now 45 have already come to Japan and availed of the program. An official from the Japan Association for Refugees said that despite the democratization of Myanmar, it will still be difficult for most of them to return to their country.

Myo Myint Swe, when he has settled back in Myanmar, wants to become a bridge between his home country and his “second homeland”. He wants to harness the power of former refugees to affect change in their country. One of the most important things he learned from his sojourn in Japan is, “Even if the door is closed, you should make utmost efforts where you are living. You should make preparations for the future. That means that you should have hope.”