RESTRICTED
Japan's Position
6.
Almost 20% of the Vietnamese refugees accepted by Japan prior to 1982 were from Hong Kong; since then this proportion has not
believe that a major reason for this is the
vaguely-drafted rules SO as to disqualify
exceeded 8.1%.
We
zealous application of
most applicants.
7.
The criteria Japan uses to select Indo-Chinese refugees for
resettlement do not appear to be unduly
to be unduly restrictive
restrictive as regards the
definition of a connection with Japan, but the requirement for experience which may
facilitate employment in Japan excludes many refugees who would otherwise qualify; and is not one which, So far
as we know, any other resettlement country uses.
8.
However, (as with other aspects of Japanese bureaucratic
practice) it is the interpretation of apparently innocuous
regulations which causes most problems. Officials have wide
discretion to decide whether or not a refugee qualifies, and the
interviews of applicants conducted by Japanese officials
in Hong
Kong produce a very low "pass rate" (eg 5 out of 134 in January
1986). The interviews include tests in mental arithmetic, another feature apparently unique to Japanese
to Japanese selection for resettlement,
and a
further unwritten requirement is invoked: willingness to
accept resettlement in Japan is introduced as a criterion.
officials reject any refugee showing the slightest equivocation or
hestitation. The result of these procedures is Japan's abysmal
record of resettlement compared to other countries.
9.
The
in
The Japanese agreed to consider carefully our request
September for them to accept more refugees from Hong Kong. At a UNHCR meeting in January Japan announced that 25 refugees accepted for resettlement in Japan were awaiting travel
awaiting travel from Hong Kong, and that the possibility of taking more was being studied. The 25 had
in fact been accepted by a mission in early 1985; we learned later that the end-1985 mission had accepted only 5 out of 134 refugees
interviewed. HMA Tokyo expressed to MFA in April his concern over
Japan's poor resettlement
the latter took note. We
performance:
RESTRICTED