Japan’s Ministry of Justice has announced on February 13, 2018, that it has granted refugee status to 20 people in the previous year. There were 19,628 applicants in 2017. One of the 20 were granted refugee status in 2017 after an appeals process, according to the ministry’s Immigration Bureau. In addition, 45 people who were not granted refugee status were granted a special status to stay in Japan based on humanitarian considerations.
Compared with 2016, the number of people granted refugee status declined from 28 to 20, and the number of applicants surged by 80% from 10,901 to 19,628. The number of people who were not granted refugee status but were granted a special status to stay in Japan based on humanitarian considerations declined by 52 compared with 2016.
The breakdown of source nations of people who applied for refugee status in 2017 are as follows:
The Philippines 4,895; Vietnam 3,116; Sri Lanka 2,226; Indonesia 2,038; Nepal 1,450; Turkey 1,195; Myanmar 962; Cambodia 772; India 601; Pakistan 469; other nations 1,904.
The number of people granted refugee status in Japan in 2017: 20
The number of people granted special status based on humanitarian considerations: 45