50 Cambodians received refugee status in Japan

Record high no. of refugee applications filed with Japan in 2011

February 25, 2012

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A record high 1,867 foreigners applied for refugee status in Japan last year, about 1.6 times the figure in the previous year, but the number of applications approved stood at just 21, down from 39 in 2010, the Justice Ministry said Friday.

The total number of applications in 2011 was the highest since 1982 when Japan began its refugee recognition system, the ministry's Immigration Bureau said, adding that the rise is partly due to an increase in cases in which the same person applies again.

As for the drop in number of approved cases, a bureau official said, "It's the result of screening each case. It's not that the requirements were toughened."

The cumulative total of applications filed over 30 years through the end of last November came to 11,754, with 598 of them approved, according to the bureau. Those recognized as refugees included 307 people from Myanmar, 69 from Iran, 59 from Vietnam, 50 from Cambodia and 48 from Laos.

The number of foreigners who were not given refugee status but were allowed to stay in Japan on humanitarian grounds totaled 1,994.

In 2011, those who applied for refugee status included 491 from Myanmar, 251 from Nepal and 234 from Turkey. There was a case in which an individual applied for the fifth time, as there is no limit on the number of times an application can be filed by the same person.

The number of foreigners who were allowed to stay in Japan on humanitarian grounds totaled 248 last year, down by 115 from 2010.