## ② Processing of Applications for Refugee Status

The total number of those whose application for recognition of refugee status was processed in 2012 was 2,198, an increase of 79 (3.7%) from 2011. The number of applicants who were recognized as refugees was 5, while the number of applicants who were not recognized was 2,083. The number of applicants who withdrew their applications and others was 110.

Further, the immigration administration is allowed to make exceptional arrangements within its authority for applicants who have special extenuating circumstances, even if they have not been recognized as refugees who fall under the definition of refugees specified in the Refugee Convention etc.. For example, if an applicant, who is denied recognition of refugee status, is unable to return to his or her home country due to situational problems in his or her country or has some other special reason necessitating that he or she stay in Japan, special arrangements may be made flexibly on a case-by-case basis, taking the situation of the foreign national into consideration within the Japanese immigration control framework. In 2012, 112 applicants were allowed to stay in Japan. (Table 46)

Table 46 Changes in the number of foreign nationals protected as refugees etc.

(People)

Refugee Status	1978 ~ 2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Recognized as a refugee	451	57	30	39	21	18
Refugees for resettlement	11,319	27	18	0
Others	522	360	501	363	248	112
Total	12,292	417	531	429	287	130

$ ^{*1} $ The number of persons recognized as refugees includes those who were denied recognition as a refugee in the primary examination, but were recognized as a result of the filing of an objection.

(*2) The number of the “Refugees for resettlement” consists of (1) so-called “boat people” who fled from Indo-China countries during the 1970s through to the 1980s and their family/relatives (their legal protection was based on the approval of the Cabinet on April 28, 1978, and June 17, 1980), and (2) accepted Myanmar refugees who had been protected temporarily in Thailand as a pilot case of resettlement to a third country which started in 2010. Therefore, the numbers for the “refugees for resettlement” for before 2006 show the people who fall under category (1) while the numbers for “refugees for resettlement” after 2010 indicate the people who fall under category (2).

(*3) The number of “Others” includes those who were denied recognition as a refugee in the primary examination but were later found to have enough grounds for being granted special permission to stay in Japan by the Minister of Justice, in accordance with Article 61-2-2(2) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act etc.)

## ③ Implementation of the System for Permission for Provisional Stay

In 2012, the number of those who were granted permission for provisional stay was 74, an increase of 3 (4.2%) from 2011.

The number of those who underwent an examination as to whether or not they should be granted permission for provisional stay was 701. The major reasons for decisions not granting permission were as follows ( $ ^{*} $ ):

☐ Applicants had applied for recognition of refugee status after the deadline of six months from the date of landing in Japan (in the case of those for whom the grounds for being a refugee had arisen during their stay in Japan, the date such fact became known to them): 410 persons.

☐ Applicants had received a deportation order in the past: 320 persons.