The number of people who came to Japan as refugees in 2008.

They sought safe haven in our country, escaping from deadly conflicts over religion, nationality or race from their own countries.

Yet the refugee’s plight does not end when they arrive in Japan.

Are you aware of what they face here even after surviving the ordeal of escaping from persecution barely with their lives?

A severe reality awaits them.
Days without shelter, work, a person to depend on or even someone to speak to.

And it can take from six months to ten years for a person to be officially recognized as an asylum seeker by the Japanese Government. Such is the bleak, lonely and dark life for asylum seekers in Japan. Days in total darkness, feeling invisible, with no future.

So what can we do? The first step is to simply recognize that these people exist in Japan.

And then to provide them with the simple dignities of human life: food, shelter and safety.

Your acknowledgment sheds light on their dark existence. And provides the first trickle of a ray of hope.

Your awareness can give refugees the basic human right of living.

Lights for Rights.
Japan Association for Refugees.