美国国家公共电台 NPR--Japan's treatment of Ukrainians contrasts with its prior refugee policy

Japan's treatment of Ukrainians contrasts with its prior refugee policy

Transcript¹

Japan has taken in hundreds of Ukrainians fleeing Russia. Japan's embrace of the Ukrainians contrasts with the less than 1% of refugees from other nations that Tokyo has recently accepted.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Millions of Ukrainians fled their country once Russia invaded. A small number of them are living in Japan. Japan's embrace of the Ukrainians contrasts with less than 1% of refugees from other nations that Tokyo has recently accepted. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE²: Recently arrived Ukrainians are learning basic Japanese to help them navigate³ life in a new country. Around 1,800 have fled the war and come to Japan, and around 70 have settled in the port city of Yokohama. Among them is 29-year-old Sergei Litvinov, a trained chef. He says his love of Japanese culture drew him here.

SERGEI LITVINOV: Especially its music, rock music of Japan. Yes, I'm listening after 16 years old.

KUHN: There's been an outpouring of sympathy for the Ukrainians in Japan. The government has given them residency and work permits for up to a year, and Yokohama is providing temporary housing, food and living expenses. Japan calls them evacuees⁴, not refugees, and expects them to return to Ukraine after the war. Litvinov, though, says he likes it here and would like to stay on.

LITVINOV: So my dream has come true, but I'm not happy because it's a horrible story in Ukraine.

KUHN: The Ukrainians are an exception. Japan granted refugee status to just 74 applicants⁵ last year, the highest number ever. Japan has long considered itself not a nation of immigrants but of one ethnic⁶ group and one culture. Refugees applying for asylum⁷ in Japan have to demonstrate they face persecution⁸ at home. That's a heavy burden, as Heydar Safari⁹ Diman knows. He fled persecution in Iran. He's now been in Japan for more than 30 years. But authorities have repeatedly rejected his bids for refugee status. They've detained him a total of more than four years in what he says were hellish conditions. He speaks fluent Japanese.

HEYDAR SAFARI DIMAN: (Through interpreter) I like Japan and Japanese people, but I hate the ones in the detention¹⁰ center. How could they bully¹¹ us like that? What did we do? We are refugees. I have no criminal record.

KUHN: In 2019, Safari Diman was one of about a hundred detainees who went on hunger strikes to protest their detention. Safari Diman says he sank into deep depression.

SAFARI DIMAN: (Through interpreter) You need a lot of courage to commit suicide. It's very difficult to kill yourself in there. And I did not have that courage.

KUHN: Tokyo-based attorney Chie Komai represents Safari Diman. She took his case to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2019. She argued that her client's detention was arbitrary because immigration authorities can detain foreigners indefinitely without any judicial¹² review. The U.N. agreed with her.

CHIE KOMAI: (Through interpreter) They made it clear that the Japanese immigration detention system is in violation¹³ of the International Covenant¹⁴ on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

KUHN: The Japanese government rejected the U.N.'s criticism, but they did not dispute the details of Safari Diman's case, and he hasn't been detained since. Safari Diman says he doesn't expect the sort of benefits the Ukrainians are getting.

SAFARI DIMAN: (Through interpreter) I'm not asking for Japanese taxpayers¹⁵ to support me. If authorities recognize me as a refugee, I will work and pay taxes.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).

KUHN: Back in Yokohama, the Ukrainians work on their Japanese. It could come in handy, as they could be here for the long haul. The Japanese government is reportedly planning to extend their benefits. Kazuhiro Suzuki is a Yokohama city official who runs programs helping¹⁶ the Ukrainians. He says he's aware that foreigners in Japan from other conflict zones aren't as lucky.

KAZUHIRO SUZUKI: (Through interpreter) We've only been supporting the Ukrainian evacuees, while the situation of refugees from other countries hasn't changed. Every day we keep working, this discrepancy¹⁷ bothers us.

KUHN: The war in Ukraine and the arrival of refugees has helped to focus attention on a social problem that many in Japan were only dimly aware of. Some of the refugees' supporters are hopeful that this will push Japan's government to treat all people fleeing war and persecution more leniently¹⁸.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Yokohama, Japan.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

4 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

5 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

9 safari   

n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队

参考例句：

• When we go on safari we like to cook on an open fire.我们远行狩猎时，喜欢露天生火做饭。
• They went on safari searching for the rare black rhinoceros.他们进行探险旅行，搜寻那稀有的黑犀牛。

10 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

11 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

12 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

13 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

14 covenant   

n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约

参考例句：

• They refused to covenant with my father for the property.他们不愿与我父亲订立财产契约。
• The money was given to us by deed of covenant.这笔钱是根据契约书付给我们的。

15 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

18 leniently   

温和地，仁慈地

参考例句：

• He marked the paper leniently. 他改考卷打分数很松。
• Considering the signs he showed of genuine repentance,we shall deal leniently with him. 鉴于他有真诚悔改的表现，我们将对他宽大处理。