Tree-planting ceremony held in May 2022 by refugees resettled in Japan

On May 15, 2022, Sunday, a tree-planting ceremony was held at Yashio Park in Shinagawa City. Until 2006, the International Refugee Assistance Center* had operated near the park to assist Indochinese refugees to resettle in Japan. At the ceremony, representatives of refugees who graduated from the Center planted two flowering dogwood trees and installed a monument as symbols of gratitude for the warm welcome they had received from the Japanese government and citizens. The Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People (FWEAP) provided financial and other support for the ceremony after determining that it contributes to the promotion of resettled refugees' participation in their community as well as mutual understanding and close communication with Japanese citizens.

In addition to representatives of the Association of Vietnamese in Japan, the host of the ceremony, approximately 50 people participated in the ceremony in total, including representatives of Catholic communities in Japan, the Laos Association in Japan, the Cambodian Community in Japan (CCJ), the Cambodia Cultural Center, PEACE (Japan-Myanmar minority friendship group), and the Federation of Workers' Union of the Burmese Citizen in Japan (FWUBC), FWEAP directors and staff, and Shinagawa city staff who supported this tree-planting event.

Many refugees and their families from not only Indochina but also other places have resettled and built their communities in Japan at present. In the past, such refugee communities were considered to be recipients of protection and support. Nowadays, they are trying to actively be involved in the Japanese society by making social contributions, such as conducting volunteer activities in areas affected by earthquakes or typhoons or providing support to foreign students or technical interns who are experiencing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This commemorative tree-planting has a great significance in that refugee communities from different countries proactively cooperated with each other to carry it out. FWEAP sincerely hopes that this tree-planting will contribute to greater mutual understanding and communication between refugee communities and the Japanese society, as well as among refugee communities.

(*) The International Refugee Assistance Center operated from 1983 to 2006 at Yashio, Shinagawa City. During its 23 years of operation, the Center provided more than 6,000 refugees from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and other countries with accommodation, Japanese language, vocational training, and other support for their resettlement in Japan.