June 2009

Rissho Kosei-kai Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace Gives Emergency Relief to Asylum Seekers in Japan

In June the executive committee of the Rissho Kosei-kai Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace announced that it had provided 2.7 million Japanese yen in emergency relief to the steering committee of a joint humanitarian aid movement called the Refugee Aid Emergency Campaign, which was established by seven organizations, including the Japan Association for Refugees and Amnesty International Japan, and operated from May to September to support asylum seekers applying for refugee status in Japan.

The Japanese government has provided financial support to asylum seekers in dire need, including those who declared when they applied for the status that they had no job, no money, and no place to stay. Ordinarily such financial support is given for four months, but it usually takes about two years to process an application. Applicants are not allowed to work while awaiting approval.

Due to the rapid increase in the number of asylum seekers, the government's budget for refugees came close to drying up, prompting stricter application requirements. Support is now available only to the seriously ill; pregnant women; children under 12; and those with permission to stay in Japan but not work. Facing this fact, the Refugee Aid Emergency Campaign offered support to asylum seekers whose period of governmental support had expired. Money from Rissho Kosei-kai Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace will pay for some of the campaign's support activities.

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