Japan’s Ministry of Justice has announced on March 24, 2017, that it has granted refugee status to 28 people in the previous year. There were 10,901 applicants in 2016. Two of the 28 were granted refugee status in 2016 after an appeals process, according to the ministry’s Immigration Bureau. In addition, 97 people who were not granted refugee status were granted a special status to stay in Japan based on humanitarian considerations.
Compared with 2015, the number of people granted refugee status increased from 27 to 28, and the number of applicants surged by 44% from 7,516 to 10,901. The number of people who were not granted refugee status but were granted a special status to stay in Japan based on humanitarian considerations increased by 18 compared with 2015.
The breakdown of source nations of people who applied for refugee status in 2016 are as follows:
Indonesia: 1,821 people; Nepal: 1,451 people; the Philippines: 1,412 people; Turkey: 1,143 people; Vietnam: 1,072 people; Sri Lanka: 938 people; Myanmar: 650 people; India: 470 people; Cambodia: 318 people; Pakistan: 289 people; other nations: 1,093 people.
The number of people granted refugee status in Japan in 2016: 28
The number of people granted special status based on humanitarian considerations: 97