Ethnic Kurds Find Haven, but No Home, in Insular Japan

In 2010, Japan began to accept refugees who had fled Myanmar to camps in Thailand. But it has taken in only 24 families since then, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This summer, the government also agreed to host up to 150 Syrian refugees as foreign exchange students.

Photo A magazine featuring photographs of Kurdish soldiers who were killed in June. Kurds first began arriving from Turkey and seeking asylum in Japan in the early 1990s, when the Turkish government was fighting an armed insurgency by Kurdish militants. Credit Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

At the United Nations General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the country needed to focus on its economy before considering whether to accept more refugees or immigrants.

Nearly 14,000 people in Japan are in some stage of an asylum process that usually lasts more than three years and that some critics say is designed to deter new migrants from applying. Asylum seekers may work while they wait for an answer, but those denied refugee status can be given temporary permits that prohibit them from working while giving them no living stipends.

Yasuhiro Hishida, assistant to the director of Japan's Refugee Status Recognition Office, said officials suspected widespread abuse of the refugee proc ess. Most applicants come from countries that are not currently considered conflict zones, including Nepal, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, he said, suggesting that they are economic migrants rather than refugees fleeing persecution.

Immigrant advocates say the government exaggerates the number of unfounded refugee claims. "In reality, there are so many people who are waiting and are facing a life of danger," said Shiho Tanaka, spokeswoman for the Japanese Association for Refugees.

Photo Happy Kebab, one of a few Kurdish-owned kebab restaurants in Kawaguchi. Credit Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

With the native Japanese population declining, she added, "there are companies that want to hire them and need laborers."

Mr. Yucel said he and his family had fled Turkey because they were afraid the government would brand them as terrorists and imprison them. Now, watching events in Turkey from afar, including a war between the government and Kurdish militants in the southeast and the recent failed military coup, Mr. Yucel said he could never go back.

"If you see my country, there is a lot of bullying and people being killed," he said, growing visibly agitated. "I can't even speak anymore."

Mr. Yucel married a Japanese-Brazilian woman with permanent residency, but that does not allow him to work in Japan legally. The authorities detained one of his elder brothers this spring after he overstayed a temporary permit, and Mr. Yucel fears he could be next.

Photo Turkish Kurds drinking on a street in Warabi. Japan is an easy destination for Kurds seeking asylum from Turkey because they do not need visas to travel there. Credit Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Kurds began arriving from Turkey and seeking asylum in Japan in the early 1990s, as the Turkish government battled an insurgency by Kurdish militants. Japan was an easy destination because Turkish citizens do not need visas to travel here. As family and friends followed, they settled around Kawaguchi and Warabi. Local residents named the community Warabistan.

Over time, some married Japanese citizens, which conferred long-term visa rights, and some opened their own businesses. There are a few Kurdish-owned restaurants in Kawaguchi, and many of the immigrants work at Kurdish-owned demolition and construction firms.

But most Kurds here, like Mr. Yucel, are stuck on temporary permits that need to be renewed every six months. Those without permission to work cobble together off-the-books jobs, which puts them at risk of being detained for months or deported.

"I want the Japanese government to understand that real refugees are in trouble," said Eyyup Kurt, 29, a Kurdish journalist who applied for asylum 18 months ago. He said he had been arrested five times in Turkey and had been shot at by a member of the Islamic State while investigating a training site.

Photo Mr. Yucel at home with his son. He and his family left Turkey because they were afraid the government would brand them as terrorists and imprison them. Credit Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

The Japanese public has mixed feelings about refugees. Some say the country has a moral responsibility to welcome those fleeing danger in their home countries, while others fear the newcomers could bring increased crime or take jobs from Japanese workers.

"You see what's happening in Europe: terrorism, crimes, lots of social unease," said Emi Aoi, a founder of Yaezakura no Kai, a group that opposes taking in more refugees or immigrants. (Emi Aoi is the name she uses professionally, different from her birth name, she said, because the group's views are not "well accepted.")

Kurds have worked hard to integrate. Many take Japanese language lessons at the cultural association, which also runs neighborhood patrols to make sure Kurds are not bothering their Japanese neighbors. This year, after an earthquake struck Kumamoto on the southern island of Kyushu, a group traveled south to help clear the rubble.

Some Japanese remain wary. City officials in Kawaguchi said they received complaints about late-night gatherings and garbage in Kurdish neighborhoods. Young Kurdish men tend to congregate outside a convenience store near the train station in Warabi, and merchants say they frighten some customers.

"Sometimes I see that they get into fights, and the police have to come," said Hiroe Hokiyama, 21, a college junior. "It is a little bit scary."

Others are more welcoming. Shori Nishizawa, 57, the owner of an appliance store a few blocks from Happy Kebab, a Kurdish-owned restaurant here, said he often watched young Kurdish mothers walking with their children on the street in front of his store.

"Japan is such a peaceful country," Mr. Nishizawa said. "We should not think about countries, but about the world. We are all citizens of the world, right?"

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Source: Ethnic Kurds Find Haven, but No Home, in Insular Japan