Over the past 15 years, readers of The Japan Times have donated 200 million yen through the Readers' Refugees Aid Fund to help refugee relief programs through the U.N. and other official and private organizations.
Launched in 1982 to help save millions of starving Africans and Asian refugees, the annual fundraising appeal has mainly benefited African and Indochinese refugees. In some years, the fund has also helped disaster-stricken people overseas, including Bangladeshi flood victims and Indian earthquake victims.
The fund has a dual purpose: to raise funds and generate public awareness about the gravity of the refugee issue. This year's drive is intended to help finance aid programs undertaken by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Africa and the former Yugoslavia, and to facilitate the integration of Indochinese refugees who resettled in Japan.