the course of the foundation

Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People

The Course of the FWEAP

1969 - 1978

At the LDP Joint Plenary Meeting of Party Members of Both Houses of the Diet (House of Representatives: 280 members; House of Councilors: 139 members) on March 22, 1968, it was decided that a specific sum from the annual salaries of all LDP Diet members of both houses would be donated for a certain period of time to provide assistance to the numerous orphans and mothers and children that were enduring wretched conditions because of the Vietnam War. These donations became the seed money for the establishment on December 12, 1969, of this Foundation.

With the initial focus being on assisting Vietnamese orphans and mothers and children, the Foundation was first called the Foundation for the Welfare and Education of Vietnamese Orphans. Later, when it became possible to extend the same assistance to other Asian countries apart from Vietnam as well, the name was changed to The Foundation for the Welfare and Education of Asian Orphans in October 1971. New projects commenced from July 1977 in the form of aid for social welfare facilities in Asian countries, and a program was also launched from October 1978 to invite welfare workers from those countries to Japan.

▲Mr. Okuno, current Honorary Chairman, delivers medical relief supplies during a war-time visit to South Vietnam, where Colonel Le Van Tan, Mayor of Hue, briefs him on the general situation and the conditions of refugees in Hue which had suffered significant damage in the Tet Offensive (in the spring of 1968).

▲A refugee camp in Tainin.
Four families living in tents to the northwest of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) near the Cambodian border. Emotionally and physically scarred by the long war, these refugees only had the clothes on their backs. _June 17, 1970.

▲A magnificent ceremony was held for the opening of the Bien Hoa Vocational Training Center in the presence of numerous representatives from the Japanese side. _Then President, Mr. Takechiyo Matsuda, also attended. September 1, 1973.

▲Thai social welfare workers were the first to visit Japan under the invitation program. October 1978.

1979 - 1989
After the end of the Vietnamese War, more and more refugees fled the three Indo-Chinese nations of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, prompting the Japanese government to allow resettlement in Japan of those who wished to do so. To this end, the government entrusted the Foundation with assistance programs for these refugees. The Foundation was renamed The Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People in October 1979, a name that it retains to this day. This was followed in January 1982 by the holding of The Festival to Encourage Resettled Indo-Chinese Refugees, and in May 1985 by the completion of the long-awaited Headquarters Building.

▲For assistance of Indo-Chinese Refugees, it _was decided on October 8, 1979, that a Refugee Assistance Headquarters should be established to promote resettlement, conduct surveys on refugee assistance projects within Japan and abroad, and conduct other necessary programs. The opening ceremony was held on November 2, 1979.

▲The opening of the International Refugee Assistance Headquarters.
In order to provide an immediate response to the rapid rise in the number of Indo-Chinese refugees temporarily residing in Japan and the lengthening duration of their stay, those refugees wishing to support themselves or resettle were taken into the Center where they were provided with skills to adjust to Japanese society, such as Japanese language education, guidance for Japanese life and job referrals. This was done with the objective of further rationalizing support for Indo-Chinese refugees. Prescribed capacity-500 people (maximum capacity-720 people). April 21, 1983.

▲Construction of the Foundation’s Headquarters Building on Foundation-owned land _at 5-1-27 Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, was completed in April 1985. A completion ceremony was held in the newly fitted out building on May 16 in the presence of many dignitaries including the Vice-minister of Home Affairs, Director of the United Nations Office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the representative in Japan of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The steel-reinforced concrete Headquarters building has a total floor area of 1270.65 m2 spread across four levels above ground and one underground, and is built on a block of land with an area of 437.95 m2. Not only does it boast modern facilities but is also conveniently located in a lovely environment, making it entirely appropriate as a base for the Foundation’s work.

▲The start of Promotion Month for the Employment of Indo-Chinese Refugees. This event was taken nationwide with the slogan of “Give Indo-Chinese refugees a job, a place to live, and a helping hand”. The President at the time, Mr. Okuno, was there himself on the first day, appealing to people passing by the specially constructed site at the Shinjuku Odakyu department store and on the street for their understanding and support. Sumo wrestler Terao and others also lent their support. October 1, 1985.

▲December 12, 1989. A commemorative event _to mark the 20th anniversary of the Foundation and the 10th anniversary of the Refugee Assistance Headquarters.

1990 - 2002
Initially commencing with around ten visitors annually, the Invitation Program expanded the number of visits to further develop the program after positive responses from participating countries. From 1996, it had reached a scale of sixty visitors per year across three occasions (with five people from each of four countries, totaling 40, at any one time).

As the sole organization entrusted by the Japanese government to undertake refugee assistance projects, the Refugee Assistance Headquarters will endeavor to contribute in new ways, ever watchful of the changing circumstances in Asia.

▲On January 1, 1991, former Professor at Sophia University and former envoy to the United Nations, Sadako Ogata of Japan became the 8th United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She paid a courtesy visit to the Foundation on January 28 that same year where she met with then President Okuno.

▲In his capacity at the time of President, Mr. Okuno visited Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India in January 1998, where he not only learned of Asian history and observed the turbulence in the Asian economy, but also met with various Cabinet ministers, expressing his gratitude to welfare ministers for their cooperation toward the Foundation’s invitation program. This picture shows the meeting with Indian Minister of Welfare, Mr. Ramoovarier. January 15, 1998.

▲Then President Okuno has a discussion with_ Mr. B. Chuluundorj, President of the Mongolia National University of the Humanities in the university President’s office after presenting a donation of Japanese language teaching materials and a complete collection of Japanese literature. Japanese Ambassador to Mongolia, Mr. Hanada, is seated to the right of Mr. Okuno. August 16, 2001.

2003 - 2008
From 2003 the Invitation Program was expanded from the three Indo-Chinese nations of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to include Mongolia, with a total of eighty people visiting yearly from these four countries (twenty people at a time, with five people from each of the four countries). The total number of visits reached eighty-five in November 2008, making a total of 1323 welfare workers who had visited Japan to that point.

In terms of refugee assistance programs, the adoption in 2002 with Cabinet approval of resettlement assistance measures for convention refugees saw the RHQ start in 2003 to provide the same kind of assistance to convention refugees that had been provided to Indo-Chinese refugees. The intake of Indo-Chinese refugees was terminated as of 2005, resulting in the closure of the International Refugee Assistance Headquarters.

In April 2006, a new facility, the RHQ Support Center, was opened in Tokyo to provide resettlement assistance activities such as Japanese language education, guidance for Japanese life and job referral services to convention refugees. In addition to also providing financial support to people applying for refugee status, an Emergency Shelter for Refugee Applicants (ESFRA) was opened in 2003 to provide emergency accommodation for those with financial difficulties and needing a place to stay.

▲Invitees undergo training. Professor Moriyama from the National College of Nursing explains Japan’s welfare administration.

▲Following the closure of the International Refugee Assistance Headquarters after 23 years of taking in Indo-Chinese refugees, volunteers from among Center graduates planted a flowering dogwood tree in Minato-ga-oka Wharf Park to express their gratitude to the Japanese government and people in a commemorative ceremony held on October 6, 2006.

▲Visiting welfare workers from Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam enthusiastically tour a sheltered workshop for the disabled in Japan.

▲Mr. Okuno, then Foundation President, inspects the RHQ Support Center, emphasizing to the convention refugees there the importance of learning the Japanese language for living in Japan, and the Foundation’s willingness to do anything to help.