Afghan refugees who fled the 2021 Taliban offensive are still struggling to adapt to life in Japan, a situation that has furthered criticism of Tokyo’s treatment of asylum seekers.

Japan accepts only a small fraction of those who apply for refugee status, compared with other Group of Seven nations.

Tokyo is now coming under additional fire over its limited support for those it does recognize as refugees.

The Japanese Embassy in Kabul started evacuating its locally hired staff members in October two years ago.

In August this year, Reiko Ogawa, a sociology professor at Chiba University, and her colleagues checked on the conditions of 18 former embassy staffers who were recognized as refugees in Japan. The survey covered 106 people, including family members.

Only two of them had secured permanent employment positions. All of the others were working part time or seeking jobs.

Although the Afghans often arrived in Japan with many family members, their monthly household income was 200,000 yen ($1,332) or less in most cases.

“Japan has discussed the issue of its low refugee acceptance ratio and other such topics so far,” Ogawa said. “Tokyo must now consider what assistance to provide recognized refugees and their families. Most refugees will certainly be able to achieve self-sufficiency, as long as they are given a stable environment to refine their skills.”

More than 800 Afghans, including former students who had studied in Japan, arrived in the country as evacuees after the Taliban took over. Of them, 280 or more have been granted asylum.

DOCTOR WORKS AT BENTO PLANT

A wife and husband who relocated from Afghanistan to Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, won refugee status with their two children in August this year.

The parents were both doctors in Afghanistan. The husband once served as director of a medical center, and he ran his own clinic.

The family was nearly broke when they arrived in Japan in spring last year with the help of a Catholic church in Osaka Prefecture. A relative of theirs was living in Japan then.

It was impossible for the couple to withdraw money from their account after the Taliban seized power in August 2021 and closed down banks.

Currently, the husband and their 17-year-old eldest son earn money through part-time jobs at a bento plant. Their hourly wage is 1,150 yen.

The father and son said they are worn out physically and mentally, and they receive harsh scoldings for being “slow to get work done.”

The couple heard that an acquaintance physician who fled Afghanistan for the United States was undergoing training to obtain a medical license there.

To enter the medical profession in Japan, the Afghan pair must overcome the language barrier and other systematic challenges.

But adapting to life in a new country requires so much of their time that they cannot clear the hurdles for their preferred work.

“At least our lives were saved,” the wife said. “I want to do something for Japan in return, but there are no such chances for me. My hope is to work at a hospital even if it is not a doctor’s position.”

6 MONTHS TO LEARN JAPANESE

The government-commissioned Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ) provides a six-month resettlement program for those who receive refugee status. Basic language education and employment support are included.

An additional Japanese lesson has been set up mainly for Afghan refugees.

However, a former worker at the Japanese Embassy in Kabul said the relief aid is not enough.

“One cannot improve Japanese skills within six months to a level at which they can find a job,” the Afghan evacuee said.

He is seeking full-time employment while living off part-time shifts. But he said even foreign-affiliated companies require fluency in Japanese.

He has bigger worries concerning his home country, where his mother and younger sister stayed. He heard from his crying mother that the Taliban had come to their house for the unmarried sister.

“On waking up in the morning, I feel my entire body filled with worries again,” he said.

CONTINUED SUPPORT ESSENTIAL

Thirty-three former embassy personnel in Kabul and their family members detailed their lives in Japan in the survey conducted by Ogawa and her colleagues.

Thirteen were “very unsatisfied” and eight were “unsatisfied” with their situation in Japan. Eleven said their satisfaction levels were “standard” while only one said the satisfaction level was “somewhat high.”

Two-thirds of them have university diplomas or higher education achievements. Some were in such professional careers as medicine and academia.

However, they said they are too busy in Japan trying to make ends meet to master the Japanese language.

“They are trapped in a vicious circle,” Ogawa said.

She noted that Afghans who previously studied in Japan and those who evacuated via private enterprises lead similarly unstable lives in Japan because of the lack of continued support and employment.

MORE HELP FOR UKRAINIANS

In contrast, the more than 2,000 Ukrainian evacuees accepted by Japan after Russia’s invasion have received much more support here.

The Nippon Foundation has, for example, covered their living expenses and introduced a scholarship program for Ukrainians taking classes at Japanese language schools.

Local governments are offering public housing facilities and other types of assistance to Ukrainian evacuees free of charge, while the central government is calling for cooperation of private businesses.

Ogawa said the difference in treatment is unfair.

“Refugees fleeing persecution (in Afghanistan) have ended up being discriminated against once more by the government in Japan,” Ogawa said.

Around 170 former embassy personnel and their relatives fled to Japan from Afghanistan. About 40 percent of them are believed to have returned to their Taliban-ruled homeland or relocated to Europe and North America.