"Refugee voices in Japan’s detention centers during the pandemic," Discussion and Film Showing with Slater and Barbaran, March 3rd, Zoom

The Whole Block Goes Down: 
Refugee voices in Japan’s detention centers during the pandemic
Discussion and Film Showing

Special Lecture Series: Vulnerable Populations in Japan under Covid-19 - 7 with 
David H. Slater, Sophia University and 
Rosa Barbaran, Filmmaker of refugee life and politics in Tokyo 

Date: Wednesday, March 3rd, 2021
Time: 7pm-8pm (Tokyo time) / Presentation will be followed by Q and A 
On Zoom. Open to all; Language English
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•David and Rosa  will be discussing their recently published paper: “The Whole Block Goes Down: Refugees in Japan’s detention centers during the pandemic” from our collection in the Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus

And Rosa will show her short flim of 3 refugees talking about their experience in the detention center during Covid-19

In the context of the global increase in displaced people, spiking to nearly 80 million in these corona times, Japan has also seen a dramatic increase in the number of applications for refugee asylum since 2010. Despite increasing numbers of applications, Japan has not increased its refugee recognition rate. Unable to return home to sure persecution when rejected, many refugees end up in Japanese detention centers once their visa expires. Like jails, hospitals and detention centers everywhere, detention centers in Japan are crowded and dangerous and unable to protect the detainees inside. Japan has been slower than many other countries to take precautions, including temporary release. This presentation will introduce you to some of the voices from those inside the detention center both before and after the covid crisis. And then, outline some of the policy shifts that have led to this dangerous situation, the conditions of anxiety inside the detention centers themselves in Tokyo and Ibaraki and the problematic situation of “provisional release” of some detainees into a corona-infested Japan without any safety net or protection. We hope to not only point out the immediate danger of infection under COVID-19, but also the larger dynamic of using detention to manage a refugee asylum system that has proven to be ineffective and unjust.

David H. Slater is professor of cultural anthropology at Sophia University. He has worked on youth and labor, capitalism, and urban space. Since 2011, he has been working on oral narrative, first of disaster and survival in Voices from Tohoku, then of mothers displaced from Fukushima, of youth activists and of homeless men in Tokyo. Currently, he is working on a related oral narrative project, Voices from Japan, that is focusing on foreign refugees seeking asylum in Tokyo through the collection of oral narratives and support efforts through the Sophia Refugee Support Group.

Rosa Barbaran graduated from Sophia University, a major in anthropology, where she led the research group on refugees and migrants. At that time, she presented research work on the role of religion in the detention center in Japan. She was a founding member of Sophia Refugee Support Group and after graduating, she worked in Melbourne as a curriculum designer for refugee children. Currently she is working as a filmmaker of refugee life and politics in Tokyo.

•David and Rosa  will be discussing their recently published paper: “The Whole Block Goes Down: Refugees in Japan’s detention centers during the pandemic” from our collection in the Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus