Japan Will Not Take Refugees

On Tuesday, Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, told the U.N. General Assembly that the country needs to focus on its own challenges before even considering allowing refugees to enter from the Middle East.

Abe announced plans to increase assistance with refugees headed to Europe, but will not allow them to enter Japan, instead choosing to focus on falling birth rates and the aging Japanese population.

He told the media, “I would say that before accepting immigrants or refugees we need to have more activities by women, by elderly people and we must raise (the) birth rate. There are many things that we should do before accepting immigrants.”

He told the media that Japan would provide over $800 million to assist with the mass exodus of refugees that are now making their way to Europe. Despite its incredible donation to assist with the refugees, many have criticized Japan for not allowing these displaced individuals to come to Japan.

Given the xenophobic nature that Japanese people have displayed over the years, what would make anyone think that this country would want to welcome foreigners with open arms? Japan cannot even accept people from China or Korea, so who would expect them to take Middle Easterners in with open arms?

It’s safe to assume that Japan will only be financially assisting with the refugee crisis for the foreseeable future.