ACEID 2019 – IAFOR Lecture – Yozo Yokota

25 March 2019

“Education and Displaced People”
The Case of the Japanese Government Project to Assist Refugees
Yozo Yokota
President, Center for Human Rights Education and Training, Japan
Introduction
1. Education is a fundamental human right that everyone is entitled to enjoy. It is explicitly
provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
● Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Art. 26, para. 1: “Everyone has the right toeducation.”● International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Art. 13, para. 1: “TheStates Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education.”● Convention on the Rights of the Child, Art. 28, para. 1: “States Parties recognize theright of the child to education.”
2. The reason that education is considered as a fundamental human right is obvious. People
can enjoy life physically, mentally and spiritually as well as politically, economically andsocially only when they are given adequate education at appropriate stages of life. To put itdifferently, people can enjoy all fundamental human rights only when proper education isguaranteed.
3. Displaced people are forced to leave their original place of living against their will by
reasons of an armed conflict, racial, religious or other discrimination and persecution,
political, economic and social disorder or a large-scale natural disaster. They include
refugees as defined by the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees,
internally displaced persons, victims of an armed conflict or war and those who suffer
serious damages from natural disasters.
4. Because such displacements occur against the will of the people, many of their humanrights are forgotten, ignored or violated in the course of displacement.
5. Amongst various categories of human rights, the right to education is most likely to beforgotten and lightly-treated at the time of emergency such as displacement because otherneeds, more directly connected to life, health and safety, are considered more urgent andrequire immediate attention. For this reason, emergency relief operations usually focus onlife-saving activities involving the right to life, health and safety, and the right to education iseasily put aside. However, the right to education is important and essential from a long-term
viewpoint from relief stage to recovery and development stages and should be included
from the early period of relief operations.
I.
Purposes and Different Types of Education
6. Education is a broad notion. It can be categorized from the viewpoint of purposes andproviders:
1 Education for personal development and fulfillment (language, arithmetic, hobbies):
providers include individuals, families, friends, communities, and schools.
2 Education for social life (customs, rules, law): providers include families, communities,schools and workplaces.
3 Education for living (vocational and professional training): providers include schools,universities, workplaces (on the job training).
7. The mass media, such as newspapers, TV and internet, if properly used, also play animportant role as providers of education for all three purposes listed above. However,displaced people usually do not benefit from obtaining education and training through themass media because of the language difference or lack of access to them.

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ACEID 2019 – IAFOR Lecture – Yozo Yokota

25 March 2019

II.
Difficulty in Obtaining Adequate Education by Displaced People
8. Displaced people are uprooted, not out of their own choice, from their native land andtraditional community, in some cases even from their families, and consequently lose
opportunity to obtain adequate education.
9. Displaced people are mostly cut off from existing providers of education such as schools,friends, communities and in many cases even families. When they come to new places, thelanguage difference prevents them from getting adequate education and training due tounavailability or inaccessibility of effective providers of education.
III.

Importance of Education for Displaced People — An Analysis of the Japanese
Government Project to Assist the Resettlement of Refugees
10. In view of the importance of education in personal and social development and fulfillment,
more focus should be on the provision of educational opportunity to displaced people. Inorder to understand different aspects of the issue, let us take as an example the Japanese
Government project to assist the resettlement in Japan of Myanmar refugees.
11. In response to a request from the UNHCR, Japan has started to accept about 30 Myanmar
refugees from refugee camps in Thailand, and later in Malaysia, to resettle in Japan asrefugees. In order to assist those resettled refugees, the Government provides budget for① language education, ② training for adaptation into a new community life, and③ vocational education and job-identifying consultation. The program is implemented by anon-profit, civil society organization. The project continues for 180 days and covers
necessary costs for food, accommodations and medical services.
12. This project is highly regarded because it focuses on the importance of education andtraining for displaced people called “resettled refugees” in order to adapt to a newcommunity life in Japan where language, customs and traditions, religious practices and away of life are different from their homeland.
13. My brief involvement in this operation proves that the project seems to be well organized
and managed. The satisfactory level of the recipients of this service is quite high.
Nevertheless, I have identified the following points for future consideration andimprovement.
1 The length (180 days) of education and training may not be enough for all the refugees
whose needs are varied. Some room for flexibility should be allowed.
2 More personalized care for different needs of refugees should be provided. For
instance, children at different ages should be given appropriate levels of education andtraining.
3 The project should include education for cultural and religious activities.
4 Additional assistance should be provided for those who are competent and willing topursue higher education at professional schools and universities.
5 Efforts should be made to integrate such refugees into ordinary educational andlearning environments after this project.
6 Efforts should be made to encourage them to use their native language and to practicetraditional customs and religion.
Conclusion
14. Displaced people face many challenges in new places. The right to education provides
opportunities for adapting to new community life, job seeking and means to earn one’sliving. Adequate education provides displaced people with an ability to live in new places
with respect and dignity. We should understand that they are largely cut off from all theexisting opportunities for obtaining adequate education for enjoying all the fundamental
human rights, which include the right: to live freely and equally in dignity; to life, liberty andsecurity of person; to work; to rest and leisure; and to participate in the cultural life of thecommunity.

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