Relief Projects for Vietnamese Orphans
In its early days, the Foundation undertook the construction and management of the Vocational Training Center for Vietnamese Orphans in Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. In September 1973, the Center welcomed 100 new students in its first year, and a further 100 students in its second year in 1974 as it set about establishing the operations of the Center. The Foundation was forced to abandon the project, however, when the Center was seized after the Republic of South Vietnam failed to repel North Vietnamese communist forces in April 1975.
▲A vocational training center for war orphans was built in Bien Hoa, 25 km north of what was then Saigon, South Vietnam, on a 40 hectare site that included a farm for practical training, classrooms and dormitories. The Center had to close, however, after it was seized by North Vietnamese forces in 1975. September 1, 1973.
▲In the classroom. Despite wartime chaos, the gesticulations of the teacher and the attitude of the students suggest a sense of hope as the Center takes its first steps.
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Establishment of the Vocational Training Center for Vietnamese Orphans
Project Content
Vocational Training in agriculture, machinery, electrical work, and woodwork
for orphans who had completed primary school. Training provided for a maximum
of four years, with 100 students in each grade for a total capacity of
400 students. Full live-in system. Training provided by both Japanese and
Vietnamese instructors.
Site
Forty hectares on the outskirts of Bien Hoa (provided by the Vietnamese
Ministry of School Welfare).
Buildings and Facilities
Main building, chassrooms, workshops, dormitories, clinic, stuff accommodation
and ancillary buildings providing an area of approximateiy 10,000 ㎡. Full
set of equipment for practical training.
▲A concept drawing of the completed vocational training center in Bien
Hoa, showing the grand scale of the plan..
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Assistance for Asian Social Welfare Facilities and Education
Financial assistance was first provided in respect of Asian social welfare
facilities in July 1977 when a donation of 6.3 million yen was made as
living expenses when Vietnamese exchange students had to relocate from
their dormitories run by the International Students Institute to allow
them to be refurbished. Further assistance was provided to Caritas Japan
in November of the same year with a donation of 25 million yen for the
construction of housing for Vietnamese refugees. As of November 2008, the
Foundation had provided funds totaling 150,626,201 yen to a total of twenty-four
organizations.
▲Yi Kuang Orphanage, Taiwan. 1980.
▲Mahinda Welfare Center, Sri Lanka, 1980.
▲Learning about Japanese literature at the Mongolia National University
of the Humanities. February, 2000.
▲Indonesian children studying under scholarships from the Foundation.
Invitation Program for Welfare Workers from Asian Nations
Since 1978, the Foundation has run an invitation program under which people involved in welfare projects for orphans and mothers and children in Asian countries are brought to Japan in order to further exchanges and enlightenment between Japan and the invited countries and contribute to improving welfare measures in Asia.
Until 1984, five people from each country were invited twice a year, in spring and fall, and in 1985 twenty people, five from each of four countries, were invited at the same time. In 1988, however, the number was increased to five people from each of three countries coming to Japan in spring and fall each year for an annual total of thirty. From April 1996, this was expanded to five people from each of twelve countries across three different occasions, totaling sixty for the year, and from 2003, people from sixteen countries were invited over four occasions to bring the number of invitees over the years to 1323 (as of November 2008).
▲Program participants receive training in the Foundation’s conference
room.
▲A commemorative photograph is taken at Todai-ji, a world’s cultural
heritage site.
▲Delegates from Taiwan _at a reception.
▲Experiencing the art of flower arranging.
▲Delegates learn about the tea ceremony.
Visitors gain a deeper understanding of _Japan’s spiritual core _by experiencing its traditions and culture.
▲Facing new welfare issues such _as an aging society and juvenile delinquency in Asian nations as their economic development races ahead, participants undertake their training in Japan with enthusiasm. Delegates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines visit the Diet on _May 28, 2008.
▲After program participants receive some training at a Kyoto municipal rehabilitation center for the physically and mentally disabled they experience what it is like in a wheelchair.
▲President Watanuki explains the Japanese parliamentary system to a group of delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia and Vietnam visiting the Diet building.
▲The Nara Social Welfare Center. Delegates being welcomed at _the sheltered
workshop for the mentally disabled, Hataraku Hiroba Takamado, where they
receive training.
▲Delegates enjoying a game with children at the Sahogawa Child Care Center.
▲Being welcomed by Vice-Governor Hashimoto during a courtesy visit to the Nara Prefectural Office.
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Social Welfare Worker Invitees
| Oct. 1978 Thailand 6 |
| Oct. 1979 Indonesia 5 |
| Nov. 1979 Korea 6 |
| Apr. 1980 Taiwan 6 |
| Sept. 1980 Malaysia 7 |
| Oct. 1980 Sri Lanka 5 |
| Apr. 1981 Thailand 5 |
| Sept. 1981 Philippines 5 |
| Nov. 1981 Nepal 5 |
| Apr. 1982 Taiwan 5 |
| May 1982 Indonesia 5 |
| Oct. 1982 Singapore 5 |
| Apr. 1983 Korea 5 |
| May 1983 Sri Lanka 5 |
| Sept. 1983 Bangladesh 5 |
| Oct. 1983 India 5 |
| Apr. 1984 Malaysia 5 |
| May 1984 Nepal 5 |
| Sept. 1984 Philippines 5 |
| Oct. 1984 Singapore 5 |
| Oct. 1985 Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| May 1986 Taiwan 10 |
| Aug. 1986 Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore 5 each |
| Oct. 1987 Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Thailand 5 each |
| May 1988 Korea, Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| Nov. 1988 Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines 5 each |
| May 1989 Korea, Singapore, Taiwan 5 each |
| Oct. 1989 Nepal 4 Bangladesh, India 5 each |
| May 1990 Korea, Philippines, Taiwan 5 each |
| Oct. 1990 Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Apr. 1991 Korea 5 Taiwan 6 |
| Nov. 1991 Bangladesh, India, Nepal 5 each |
| Apr. 1992 Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines 5 each |
| Nov. 1992 Bangladesh, India, Indonesia 5 each Sri Lanka 6 |
| Apr. 1993 Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| Nov. 1993 Bangladesh 4 India, Malaysia, Nepal 5 each |
| Apr. 1994 Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan 5 each |
| Nov. 1994 Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Apr. 1995 India, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand 5 each |
| Nov. 1995 Philippines, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan 5 each |
| Apr. 1996 Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Sept. 1996 Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan 5 each |
| Nov. 1996 Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| Apr. 1997 Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| July 1997 Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Nov. 1997 Bangladesh, Pakistan 5 each India, Indonesia 4 each |
| Apr. 1998 Korea, Philippines, Thailand 5 each Taiwan 4 |
| Sept. 1998 Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore 5 each Pakistan 4 |
| Nov. 1998 Bangladesh, India, Indonesia 5 each Sri Lanka 4 |
| Apr. 1999 Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| Sept. 1999 Indonesia 4 Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore 5 each |
| Nov. 1999 Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka 5 each India 4 |
| Apr. 2000 Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand 5 each |
| Sept. 2000 Bangladesh 4 India 3 Nepal, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Nov. 2000 Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines 5 each |
| Apr. 2001 Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| Sept. 2001 Philippines, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Nov. 2001 Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan 5 each |
| Apr. 2002 Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand 5 each Pakistan 4 |
| Sept. 2002 Korea, Philippines 5 each Taiwan 4 Singapore 3 |
| Nov. 2002 Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Apr. 2003 Malaysia, Sri Lanka 5 each Nepal, Pakistan 4 each |
| June 2003 Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam 5 each |
| Sept. 2003 Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Philippines 5 each |
| Nov. 2003 Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| Apr. 2004 Bangladesh, Philippines, Singapore 5 each Pakistan 4 |
| June 2004 Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam 5 each |
| Sept. 2004 India, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Nov. 2004 Indonesia, Korea Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| Apr. 2005 Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| June 2005 Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam 5 each |
| Sept. 2005 Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia 5 each Pakistan 4 |
| Nov. 2005 Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka 5 each Nepal 4 |
| Apr. 2006 Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam 5 each |
| May 2006 Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan 5 each |
| Sept. 2006 Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand 5 each Pakistan 4 |
| Nov. 2006 Bangladesh, India, Malaysia 5 each Sri Lanka 4 |
| Apr. 2007 Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan 5 each |
| May 2007 Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam 5 each |
| Sept. 2007 Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Nov. 2007 Bhutan, Mongolia, Nepal, Thailand 5 each |
| Apr. 2008 Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam 5 each |
| May 2008 Indonesia 4 Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines 5 each |
| Sept. 2008 Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan 5 each |
| Nov. 2008 Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka 5 each |
| Total 1,323 |
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The Festival for Resettled Refugees in Japan
The Festival for Resettled Refugees in Japan first started as ﾒThe Festival to Encourage Resettled Indo-Chinese Refugeesﾓ in January 1982. The Foundationﾕs goal was not only to encourage refugees who had resettled in Japan with its differing culture and lifestyle, but to also deepen the understanding of people across Japan regarding resettled refugees. Marking the tenth anniversary of the implementation of refugee assistance projects, the name was changed to ﾒThe Festival for Resettled Indo-Chinese RefugeesﾑA Festival of Love and Thanksﾓ in 1989, and again in 2004 to the present ﾒThe Festival for Resettled Refugees in Japanﾓ due to the commencement of assistance for convention refugees from 2003. The festival is held each year in fall.
The first part of the event is reserved for the presentation of certificates
of gratitude to people providing cooperation for the employment of resettled
refugees and those assisting on a regular basis in both word and deed.
Exemplary resettled refugees also receive commendations. The second part
is given over to performances by refugees of traditional dance and song
from their homelands.
▲A ceremony
▲Speech by President Watanuki
▲Aoyama Gakuin University Students’ Association and Wind Ensemble baton twirling
▲Lao ethnic dancing
▲Myanmarese ethnic dancing
▲Vietnamese ethnic dancing
▲Cambodian ethnic dancing
▲Ladder-top stunts at _an Edo Firemanship Preservation Association commemorative
event
▲Maki Kitami, illusion magic show
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Message
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Johan Cels
Representative
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for inviting me to the Festival for Resettled Refugees in Japan hosted by the Foundation for the Welfare and Education of Asian People and RHQ.
As I have just arrived in Japan as the new UNHCR Representative this is a unique opportunity to meet with you.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation
for the work that the Foundation and RHQ and their staff have done of behalf
of refugees and asylum seekers in Japan. This year, the Foundation is celebrating
its 40th anniversary, and RHQ is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The first group of Indo-Chinese Refugees arrived in Japan in 1975. More
than 11,500 Indochinese were accepted in subsequent years. The Foundation
and RHQ played a key role in their integration in Japanese society. RHQﾕs
practical knowledge and experience in supporting refugees integrate in
the Japanese society will prove beneficial in any future resettlement endeavors
of Japan.
Japan has been a staunch and generous supporter of UNHCR, for which we are very grateful. Japan has also taken on a leadership role in developing human security and peacebuilding policies. These efforts have brought hope to the lives of millions of refugees worldwide.
In Japan, UNHCRﾕs objectives are to support the efforts of the Japanese
authorities and civil society to ameliorate the asylum system. There are
many challenges as well opportunities. The increase in the number of asylum
seekers is posing a challenge. In addition to ensuring timely decisions,
the budgetary needs have increased.
A strong partnership between RHQ and UNHCR will undoubtedly create opportunities
to meet some of the reception challenges. Our collaboration is built on
the strong and lengthy experience in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
This partnership serves as an example to countries in the region that are
in the process of developing their asylum processes.
UNHCR has been working as the UN Refugee Agency over the past 57 years helping some 31 million people globally.
In the years to come, I look forward to working very closely with the Foundation
and RHQ, MOJ, MOFA, other ministries, Parliament, and the NGO community.
Finally, but not least important, I would also like to congratulate the
refugees who are being recognized today for their contributions.
Personally, I have a keen interest in learning more about the Indochinese refugees settled in Japan. I joined UNHCR in Hong Kong in 1989 and worked for several years with Vietnamese asylum seekers and refugees.
Festivals like today are very important to celebrate the many contributions
but to also raise awareness among the general public so that they continue
support policies aimed at alleviating the suffering of refugees worldwide.
Thank you.
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