A second group of four refugee families from Myanmar arrived at Tokyo’s Narita Airport yesterday (29/11) from a Thai refugee camp as part of a Japanese Government pilot refugee resettlement project. The group of 18 refugees will shortly be joined by another family of five.
Yesterday’s new arrivals from Thailand’s Mae La refugee camp are the second group of some 90 refugees from Myanmar that Japan has offered to resettle under the pilot scheme, which is scheduled to run for three years.
IOM Thailand provides logistical help to Japanese government missions that select the refugees from lists submitted to them by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Once the refugees have been selected, IOM provides health assessments, pre-departure cultural orientation and language training. It also helps them to prepare for the trip to Japan and makes all the travel arrangements.
IOM is also working with the government and partners in Japan to raise awareness of the project to facilitate the smooth integration of the refugees into Japanese society.
“IOM is proud to be part of this pilot resettlement project, which represents a practical contribution to international burden-sharing in refugee protection,” said IOM Tokyo Chief of Mission William Barriga
