As Japan prepares to take in Myanmarese from Thai refugee camps, it is important that the communities they resettle in fully support their integration into society, experts said at a recent Tokyo symposium held by the Foreign Ministry.
In fiscal 2010, Japan will begin a three-year pilot program to accept 90 refugees residing in Thailand just across the border from junta-ruled Myanmar, becoming the first Asian country to take in refugees living in foreign camps.
Refugees are increasing in number, but their resettlement in third countries is not keeping up with the pace, Mitsuko Shino, a Foreign Ministry director of humanitarian affairs, told the Feb. 5 symposium.
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