In his Dec. 18 letter, "Asylum seekers sidelined," David Wood criticizes "Japan's crass disregard of its responsibility" vis-a-vis opening its doors to asylum seekers. Some, including myself, might see Japan's approach as wise. We — or rather the British government on our behalf — have been very generous in laying out the welcome mat, resulting in large chunks of the Third World discovering that they're denied their human rights, and promptly beating a path to London.
Naturally, success breeds success, and they quickly tell all their friends and relatives about "Treasure Island" — also known as Britain. One problem — of many — is that they tend to continue the feuds and squabbles that plague their own countries.
In the last few months in the area of London where I live, for example, there have been cases of asylum seekers from both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka fighting each other within their own groups, while those from Africa are enthusiastic participants in street crime — all of which "enriches" my culture . . . or so I'm told. I really don't think Japan needs to import such problems.
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