2017年日本有2万人提交了避难申请，但只接受了20份 [英国媒体]

Japan had 20,000 applications for asylum in 2017. It accepted 20

2017年日本有2万人提交了避难申请，但只接受了20份

Just 0.1% of asylum seekers won the right to remain, as campaigners say ‘door has been closed’ to those in need

只有0.1%的寻求避难者获得了留下来的权利，因为活动人士表示，给那些有需要的人的“大门已经关闭”。

 
One asylum seeker’s lawyer said the policy of Japan’s government was punishing genuine applicants. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

一名寻求避难者的律师表示，日本政府的政策是在惩罚真正的申请者。照片：彭博社/彭博社转自盖蒂图片社。

Japan accepted just 20 asylum seekers last year – despite a record 19,628 applications – drawing accusations that the country is unfairly closing its door on people in genuine need.

去年，日本只接纳了20名寻求避难者，尽管申请量达到了创纪录的19628宗，但日本被指责不公正地关闭了那些真正有需要的人的大门。

Since 2010, Japan has granted work permits to asylum seekers with valid visas to work while their refugee claims were reviewed, a change the government says has fuelled a dramatic rise in “bogus” applications from people who are simply seeking work.

自2010年以来，日本在审查难民申请时，向持有效签证的寻求避难者发放了工作许可。政府表示，这一改变推动了“虚假”申请的急剧上升，而这些人只是在找工作。

According to figures released this week, the number of applicants in 2017 rose 80% from a year earlier, when 28 out of almost 11,000 requests were recognised.

根据本周公布的数据，2017年申请人数较上年同期增长了80%，约11000宗申请中有28个申请被确认。

Among the thousands of people whose applications have been turned down is Jean, who arrived in 2001 after fleeing ethnic violence in his home country of Burundi.

吉恩是成千上万份申请当中被拒绝的一位，他于2001年来到这里，逃离了他的家乡布隆迪的种族暴力冲突。

Seventeen years on, Jean remains in legal limbo – a victim, campaigners say, of Japan’s strict policy towards refugees, and a wider resistance to immigration.

17年过去了，吉恩仍然处于法律的困境中。活动家表示，他是日本对难民的严格政策，以及对移民更广泛的抵制措施的一名受害者。

Jean, a Hutu, had been thrown on to a pile of burning tyres after refusing to join the fight against the Tutsi. He escaped, but the incident, which left him with burns to his right leg, convinced him he could never return.

吉恩是胡图族人。他在拒绝加入反对图西族的战斗后，被扔到一堆燃烧的轮胎上。他逃走了，但在那次冲突中烧伤了他的右腿，这也使得他坚信自己绝不能回去。

“At that time I was just a simple person selling maize and peanuts on the street. I had no idea what they were fighting for,” he told the Guardian in an interview near his home east of Tokyo.

“那时我只是个很简单天真的人，在街上卖玉米和花生的。我不知道他们在为什么而战”，在东京东部他的家中接受《卫报》采访时，他这样说。

His attorney, Masako Suzuki, said government policy was punishing genuine asylum seekers.

他的律师铃木雅子说，政府的政策是在惩罚真正的寻求避难者。

“Jean should have been recognised as an asylum seeker by now,” she said. “It’s incredible that the immigration authorities have not even given him humanitarian status considering that ethnic violence in Burundi has worsened dramatically since 2016.”

“到目前为止，吉恩应该被认定为是一名避难者。”她说，“令人难以置信的是，考虑到自2016年以来布隆迪的种族暴力急剧恶化的局势，移民当局甚至都没有给予他人道主义地位。”

 

Protesters against Japan’s refugee policy gather in Shibuya ward, Tokyo, in March 2016. Photograph: NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

2016年3月，反对日本难民政策的抗议者聚集在东京的涩谷区。照片：NurPhoto/NurPhoto转自盖蒂图片社。

Recent changes indicate Japan is getting even tougher. In an attempt to reduce the number of applicants, the government last month started limiting the right to work only to those it regards as genuine asylum seekers.

最近的变化表明日本正变得更加强硬。为了减少申请人数，政府上个月开始提高限制，只对那些被认为是真正的寻求避难者给予工作权利。

Repeat applicants, and those who fail initial screenings, risk being held in immigration detention centres after their permission to stay in Japan expires.

重复申请者和那些初次筛选失败的人，在获准停留日本到期后，就有被移民拘留中心拘留的风险。

Eri Ishikawa, head of the Japan Association for Refugees, said the new regulation was part of a wider crackdown on refugees under the conservative prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

日本难民协会的负责人石川惠里表示，新的规定是对保守派首相安倍晋三对难民更广泛打击政策的一部分。

Abe courted controversy in 2015 when he said Japan should improve the lives of its own people – particularly women and the elderly – before accepting refugees from Syria.

安倍在2015年曾表示，在接受来自叙利亚的难民之前，日本应该改善本国人民的生活，尤其是妇女和老人的生活，这引起了争议。

Campaigners have contrasted his tough stance on asylum seekers with his recent visit to Lithuania, where he paid tribute to a wartime Japanese diplomat, Chiune Sugihara, who is credited with saving the lives of an estimated 6,000 Jewish people in 1940 by issuing them with Japanese visas.

活动人士将安倍对寻求避难者的强硬立场，与他最近访问立陶宛时的行为进行了对比。在立陶宛，他向一名战时的日本外交官杉原千亩致敬，杉原在1940年通过发放日本签证挽救了大约6000名犹太人的生命。

“The government assumes that some people are applying for refugee status just to obtain a work permit in Japan,” said Ishikawa, whose group helps 700 people, mainly from countries in Africa, whose asylum applications have been turned down.

石川说：“政府认为一些人申请难民身份只是为了在日本获得工作许可”。他的组织帮助了700人，主要来自非洲国家，他们的避难申请被拒绝了。

“The door has been closed to people applying for asylum. That worries us because among them are genuine asylum seekers.”

“对申请庇护的人的这扇门已经关闭了。这让我们担心，因为他们当中有真正的寻求避难者。”

Japan’s immigration detention centres have been criticised for their harsh treatment of detainees. At least 10 people have died in the centres since 2006, including four suicides. In 2016, more than 40 detainees went on hunger strike at a facility in Osaka to protest against their living conditions and poor standards of medical care.

日本的移民拘留中心因对在押人员的苛刻待遇而受到批评。自2006年以来，该中心至少有10人致死，其中包括4人自杀。2016年，40多名被拘留者在大阪的一处设施进行绝食抗议，抗议他们的生活条件和医护水平低下。

“Conditions at the centres are harsh, and there is no limit on how long people can be detained,” Ishikawa said. “People are usually given provisional release after a year, but they are not allowed to work and they are not entitled to any social security benefits.”

石川说：“这些中心的条件很恶劣，人们被拘留的时间也没有限制。人们通常在一年后才被临时释放，但他们不被允许去工作，而且他们也没有资格享受任何社会保障福利。”

Despite experiencing its worst labour shortage for 44 years, Japan is unlikely to overcome a deep-seated cultural resistance to significant immigration, she added. “The government doesn’t like the word immigration: it sounds permanent and that’s why some people are resisting it. They are worried that it would change the nature of Japanese society.”

尽管经历了44年最严重的劳动力短缺，但日本不太可能克服抵制大量移民的根深蒂固的文化。她补充说，“政府不喜欢移民这个词：它听起来是永久性的，这就是为什么有些人抵制它的原因。他们担心这会改变日本社会的性质。”

Today, Jean, who asked to be referred to only by his first name, still experiences pain from burns to his leg. He has not seen his parents or two sisters since he fled Burundi.

今天，吉恩被要求仅凭他的名字来称呼他，他的腿上仍有灼伤的疼痛。自从他逃离布隆迪以来，他没有见过他的父母或姐妹。

He arrived in Tokyo in January 2001 on a 90-day tourist visa, relieved to have found what he thought would be a safe haven. He initially slept in a car and earned a modest living working in a spare parts yard. He said he had no idea he had overstayed his visa until he was questioned by immigration authorities.

2001年1月，他拿着90天的旅游签证抵达东京，他相信找到了一个自认为安全的避风港，这让他松了一口气。起初，他睡在一辆车里，在一个备件厂干活，过着简朴的生活。他说他完全不知道自己的签证过期了，直到他被移民局质询。

The 48-year-old, who believes his life would be at immediate risk in Burundi, has spent months at a time in immigration detention centres, most recently in 2011. He is now awaiting the outcome of his third application for asylum.

现年48岁的他认为，回到布隆迪他就会立即面临生命危险，他一次要去移民拘留中心待上几个月，最近一次是在2011年。他现在正在等待第三次避难申请的结果。

His failure to seek asylum as soon as he arrived in Japan means he is banned from working and his movements are strictly monitored. He spends his days volunteering at a Catholic church in Tokyo and studying Japanese.

他没有一到日本就寻求避难，这意味着他被禁止工作，而且他的行动也受到严格的监控。他每天都在东京的一个天主教堂做志愿者，并学习日语。

But he is grateful for the kindness shown to him by ordinary people, including the couple who have taken him into their home while immigration authorities decide his future.

但他对普通民众对他的善意表示感谢，包括在等待移民当局决定他的未来时把他带回家的夫妇。

“The Japanese people I know have been so kind to me,” he said. “I can’t believe how well they have treated me.

“我认识的日本人都对我很好，”他说，“我不敢相信他们对我的态度有多好。”

“They took me in like a member of their own family. Without them, I have no idea what would have become of me. This is what it means to be living in a peaceful country.”

“他们把我当成了自己家庭的一员。没有他们，我不知道自己会变成什么样子。这就是生活在一个和平的国家的意义。”v