Refugees and Asylum Seekers in East Asia Perspectives from Japan and Taiwan

This edited volume fills a gap in current research on asylum seekers and refugees. By focusing on two East Asian countries, Japan and Taiwan, this volume offers material for comparison and reflection on an area of the world in which this theme is still relatively underdeveloped. By approaching the theme through the different perspectives of human rights, social construction through media representation and public opinion, and lived experiences, the book offers a multifaceted and sophisticated analysis of the phenomenon. The main aim of this collection is to expand current scholarship on refugee studies and offer policy recommendations on the timely topic of refugee and asylum seekers in East Asia.

This is an open access book.

Introduction.- Part I: Regulation and legal protection of refugees and asylum seekers in Japan and Taiwan.- Chapter 1. South Korea's dual asylum system as a model for Taiwan?.- Chapter 2. How refugee protection is handled in non-UN member states: Lessons for Taiwan.- Chapter 3. Human rights issues in the Japanese refugee recognition process and the legal progress towards a more inclusive refugee system.- Chapter 4. Japanese and Taiwanese Approaches to Future Climate Refugees.- Part II: Social construction of refugees and asylum seekers in Japan and Taiwan.- Chapter 5. Pictures of “Hong Kongers” in Japan and Taiwan: A text-mining analysis of news media.- Chapter 6. Kurdish community in Japan and the representation of Kurdish identity and activism on social media.- Chapter 7. Japan’s refugee policy and public opinion: Nationalism as a factor in Japanese public opinion on refugees.- Part III: Lived experiences of refugees and asylum seekers in Japan and Taiwan.- Chapter 8. Asylum seeking as survival strategy: The narratives of Indonesian asylum seekers in Japan.- Chapter 9. Ethnic strategies of refugee entrepreneurs: Burmese refugees and ethnic business in Tokyo.- Chapter 10. Refugees by another name: Displaced learners in Japanese higher education.

Dr Lara Momesso is Senior Lecturer in Asia Pacific Studies at the School of Psychology and Humanities at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). She is Co-Director of the Northern Institute of Taiwan Studies at UCLan and Co-Deputy Director of the Centre for Migration, Diaspora and Exile at UCLan. She has an extensive track record on her main research theme, marriage migration between China and Taiwan, and more recently she has turned her attention towards refugees in East Asia and Chinese diaspora in the UK. She is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Asia Pacific Viewpoint.

Dr Polina Ivanova is Senior Researcher at the Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University, Japan. She holds a PhD in International Relations from Ritsumeikan University. Her research interests lie in the areas of migration and migrant integration, including international students, refugees and asylum seekers and highly skilled migrants. Her research primarily centres on Japan, with comparative analyses extending to Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Her recent book is “Civil society and international students in Japan: The making of social capital” (Routledge, 2023).