Anti-Russia Kishida of Japan and Ukraine refugee stunt: Asian refugees?
Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Millions of people in various parts of Asia are internally displaced. However, as usual, Japan isn’t known for providing them with full refugee status and eventual citizenship. Yet, anti-Russia Prime Minister Fumio Kishida – seeking to exploit Russophobia and petty nationalism – is allowing a moderate number of Ukraine refugees to enter the country concerning the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the Donbas region.
Equally astonishing, Japan appears to negate refugees throughout Asia while highlighting Ukraine in Europe. However, with the European Union (EU) on the doorstep of Ukraine – where democracy and economic stability abounds (in general, high unemployment in several EU nations) – it seems misplaced to focus on Ukraine refugees rather than Afghanistan, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Iran, Myanmar, Thailand, West Papua, and other nations throughout Asia.
Kishida is anti-Russia because he never stops focusing on this nation in a negative and hostile way. Thus he happily negates the past and ongoing deeds of America and other nations – from Indonesia (West Papua) to rich Gulf nations (Yemen war) – while even asking Turkey for help (Turkey occupies North Cyprus and parts of North Syria).
Reuters says, “The Japanese government flew 20 Ukrainian refugees into Tokyo on Tuesday in a high-profile show of support for international efforts to help Ukraine, an unusually warm welcome from a country that has long been reluctant to accept foreigners.”
The Japan Association of Refugees reports, “In 2019, 10,375 applied for Refugee status. However, only 44 people were accepted. In Japan, all applications are handled by the Japan Immigration Bureau, and it can be said that they have a stronger stance on ‘controlling’ rather than protecting refugees. When compared to international standards, there is little transparency regarding the decision-making behind refugee acceptance, which also includes fairness on how they are determined. Another factor is that the refugee situation is still rarely known in Japan society. There are also misconceptions about refugees that connect them to the growing fear around public safety and the risks to society, hence making it a challenge for them to be accepted into society.”
It seems that anti-Russia Kishida is utilizing Ukraine refugees to mask the manipulation of the facts behind this. This concerns boosting nationalism in Japan concerning his endless anti-Russia statements, appearing to show that Japan is a player within the G-7 (rather than being seen as a nation that is protected by the nuclear umbrella and armed forces of America) and to mask the abject economic failure of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and static wages for over three decades backed by a mountain of debt.
Kishida, by playing the anti-Russia card – similar to the administration of Yoshihide Suga playing the anti-China card – can increase the military budget. However, for people who know about the recent history of refugee acceptance in Japan, the mask isn’t fooling people who understand that this is manipulation concerning the angles already mentioned.
Or, are Ukrainian refugees deemed higher than African, Asian, and South American refugees in the mindset of Kishida?
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