Engaging with refugees as equal individuals to change attitudes

According to 2020 UNHCR study, more than 82.4 million people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes and become refugees. This is the largest figure ever recorded, and approximately one in every 100 people on the planet being a refugee. Meanwhile, the 2019 IPSOS survey shows that an average of 40% in the 26 surveyed countries argue that their borders should be completely closed to refugees.

One possible explanation behind this is the prejudice against the refugee label. Despite the many different reasons for becoming a refugee, the individuality and will of each person tend to be ignored, generalizing the negative aspects caused by some refugees.

To change attitudes towards such refugees, invisible forms of support and donations to the other party are insufficient. Still, an attitude of trying to understand the differences that arise from actual direct human interaction is essential.

This article introduces a new way of working with refugees in Japan that goes beyond such conventional refugee support.

Employment support that utilizes the potential of each refugee

The NPO “WELgee” welcomes refugees as equal “partners” and provides friendly employment support for both Japanese companies and refugees. The organization’s name, WELgee, is a coined word combining the words welcome and refugee.

WELgee believes that it is not good for both refugees and Japanese companies that individuals with diverse skills and aspirations, such as IT engineers, entrepreneurs and journalists, are closed off or unable to utilize their abilities because of their refugee label, and promotes the creation of an environment where refugees can be welcomed as “Japan where they can envision their own future.”

However, to begin with, the number of refugees accepted in Japan is small, so few companies are interested in hiring refugees because they don’t know what kind of people they are. Therefore, WELgee is promoting the creation of positions to hire refugees by having company people actually meet and talk with refugees together.

In addition to supporting companies, it is also important to encourage the initiative and commitment of the refugees themselves, so WELgee also provides emotional support during the unstable period until refugees from different cultures make their own lives in Japan.

Besides these work accompaniment projects, the organization also runs the “WELgee Salon,” a community for Japanese people to learn more about refugees. They emphasize not talking “about” refugees but talking “with” refugees. It provides regular opportunities for discussion and chit-chat on specific topics as human beings.

Currency system connecting refugees and citizens

At “Arrupe Refugee Center,” where people awaiting refugee application procedures live, they introduce the city’s system providing currency called “town coins” to expand the interaction between refugees and citizens. Citizens can use the currency at shops that are members of the currency system.

Because of restrictions on employment during the refugee application process, refugees were only able to receive assistance during their stay at the center before. But through this system, giving something to others, such as serving food from their home country to citizens at a shop that is a member of town coins, or teaching them how to make tea from their home country, they can confirm the significance of their existence.

Another small pleasure for the refugees is that they can use the coins they earn from giving to engage in consumption activities such as drinking tea. On the other hand, citizens also become interested in the problems of the refugees by interacting with them as friends through the town coins system.

Empathy as a “human being” rather than a “refugee” solves refugee problems

People can learn about refugee issues through the news and the internet. However, many people cannot take action to solve the problem just by knowing about it. Therefore, we can think about their problems as the same people and friends by directly engaging with refugees. The important thing is to feel the issues in your heart.

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