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Journal of Refugee Studies Advance Access originally published online on August 2, 2007
Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20(3):481-508; doi:10.1093/jrs/fem009
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© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Sharing the Burden: The Role of Government and NGOs in Protecting and Providing for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Japan

Meryll Dean

Department of Law, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP m.r.dean{at}brookes.ac.uk

Miki Nagashima

School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, Tokyo miki_n{at}ruri.waseda.jp

This article examines the background to Japan's current refugee recognition and protection regime in the thematic context of burden-sharing. It considers recent legislative reforms and the role of local NGOs with the aim of setting Japan's domestic protection framework against the background of its international legal obligations. The analysis suggests that the policy and practices of the Japanese government have resulted in the exclusion of many who seek to enter the country and that for those in-country there is inadequate state social and welfare provision. The article questions whether Japan's significant financial contribution can adequately discharge its international burden-sharing responsibilities and argues that the government has effectively shifted responsibility for protection and support to local NGOs. It concludes that without further changes burden-shifting and not burden-sharing will remain a predominant feature of Japan's approach to protecting and providing for asylum seekers and refugees in Japan.

Key Words: burden-sharing • protection • refugees • Japan

MS received September 1, 2005 ; revised MS received September 1, 2006
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