5 -
countries.
As a result, the caseload of the boat people
in Japan is increasing steadily. To cope with this new
situation, Japan established a new center ("International
Refugee Assistance Center") in April this year, at the cost
of 2.07 billion yen (roughly 9 million US$), with an
accommodation capacity of 720 persons. The center is
expected to facilitate "durable solutions" mainly through
promoting local settlement in Japan.
(3) Orderly Departure Program (ODP)
Apart from measures for the acceptance of
refugees, Japan, believing it to be an effective measures
to stem the outflow of refugees, on the humanitarian ground,
decided in June 1980, to grant entry permission into
Japan to those Vietnamese residing in Vietnam who desire to
join their families in Japan, in accordance with the
agreement between Vietnam and the UNHCR on ODP. Under this
arrangement, lists of more than 90 families have been passed
on to Vietnamese government so far. To date, family
reunion cases realized in Japan under this scheme totals
about 30 with more than 70 persons.
{
1