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History of the FWEAP |
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| 1. Establishment Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Takechiyo Matsuda visited South Vietnam in 1965, where he determined that there had to be something that could be done to provide assistance to the orphans and mothers and children thrown into a wretched state by war. Upon his return to Japan, Mr. Matsuda explained what he saw to a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Joint Plenary Meeting of Party Members of Both Houses of the Diet and impressed upon them the need for Japan to extend assistance. As a result, on March 22, 1968, it was decided at an LDP General Council that a donation of 1000 yen per month would be made from each memberﾕs annual salary for a period of 60 months commencing from October 1968 for Vietnamese orphans and mothers and children. With the authorization of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kiichi Aichi (authorization No. 12, dated December 12, 1969), these donations (total 15 million yen) formed the fund for the establishment of The Foundation for the Welfare and Education of Vietnamese Orphans, and a secretariat was set up in the Nissei Building at 3-3 Ichibancho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Initial Directors
The Foundation budget started off in fiscal 1970 with income and expenditure both sitting at 10.7 million yen. Later in the same year, the budget for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs included an amount of 10 million yen for the commissioning of surveys, with the first fact-finding mission headed by Seisuke Okuno (mission head) and Yoshio Sakurauchi dispatched to Vietnam in June. However, in order to smoothly conduct the hoped-for activities, a fund of 1 billion yen was required. Here, Seisuke Okuno took on a central role in approaching various organizations and the business community to seek their cooperation and achieve the goal that had been set. 2. Construction of the Bien Hoa Vocational Training Center for Vietnamese Orphans On the basis of information gathered during the first fact-finding mission, a decision was taken to construct a live-in vocational training center in Bien Hoa on the outskirts of Saigon, to assist orphans to learn skills and gain independence. The land for the project was provided by the government of South Vietnam with the Japanese side undertaking the construction. Visits were made to Japan by the South Vietnamese Minister of Social Welfare Mr. Phieu and Vice-minister Mr. Anh and staff, and second, third and fourth fact-finding missions were also sent from Japan to finalize the program. Program Content Vocational training in agriculture, machinery, electrical work and woodwork for orphans who had completed primary school education. Training was limited to four years, with 100 students in each grade for a total of 400 students, and they all lived on site. Both Japanese and Vietnamese instructors provided the training, and the center was managed by the Foundation for the Welfare and Education of Vietnamese Orphans. Site An area of 40 hectares, including a farm for practical training on the outskirts of Bien Hoa (provided by the South Vietnamese government). Buildings and Facilities Main building, classrooms, workshops, dormitories, clinic, staff accommodation, ancillary buildings. Total of approximately 10,000 m2. Furnished with a complete set of equipment for practical instruction. Funding Plan Construction funds and facility funds sourced through Japanese government grants. Operational costs borne by the Foundation. First Stage Works In fiscal 1971, the Japanese government budget allocated grants totaling 220 million yen (200 million yen for first stage construction funds and 20 million yen for the purchase of fixtures and materials), allowing the first stage of construction to commence on August 1, 1972, and be completed on June 30, 1973. Second Stage Works In the fiscal 1972 budget, 272.4 million yen was approved for the second stage of construction. This commenced in April 1973 and was completed on March 30, 1974. Fund-raising was re-commenced on October 1, 1971 with a view to extending the same sort of assistance across all Asian nations, not just Vietnam, and the Foundation was renamed The Foundation for the Welfare and Education of Asian Orphans. The secretariat was moved in June 1973 to Rokubancho Mansion, 6-4 Ichibancho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Opening Ceremony A grand opening ceremony was held on September 1, 1973, welcoming 100 new students and attended by South Vietnamese government dignitaries including Prime Minister Tran Thien Khiem, as well as the Japanese Ambassador to South Vietnam, Mr. Nara, and the Foundation President, Mr. Matsuda, and his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Matsuda resided at the center for approximately one year following this so the Foundation could run the center. On March 21, 1975, the North Vietnamese army, which had been on the offensive in the central highlands since March 10, launched a relentless attack on the major center of Ban Me Thuot and the north coastal region. On March 31, the ancient capital of Hue and the most strategically important town of Da Nang fell into the hands of the North. With the war front approaching Bien Hoa, all of the students at the training center were evacuated to Saigon on April 28. April 30 saw the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam to North Vietnamese forces. With the defeat of the South Vietnamese government, the Bien Hoa Vocational Training Center for Orphans was seized by the North Vietnamese and was said to have been used as a facility for wounded and ill soldiers, following which it became an education and training facility for the communist party. This forced a change in the direction of the activities of the Foundation. 3. New Program Development At a directorsﾕ meeting held on May 28, 1976, Mr. Takechiyo Matsuda tendered his resignation, citing poor health. Mr. Seisuke Okuno was elected unanimously by the Board of Directors as the new President (Mr. Matsuda became Chairman). Although the Foundation had previously attempted to establish its own office using its own funds, it had been unsuccessful to this point. The Foundationﾕs house bulletin, ﾒAiﾓ [Love], was first published in this year, 1976. In order to consider the future response of the Foundation, the new President, Mr. Okuno, conducted an investigative tour of Southeast Asia accompanied by the Secretary-General. It was a time when Indo-China was being pounded by the waves of communism and, fearing persecution by communists, thousands of people looked for salvation in the small boats they used to cross the ocean to flee their homeland (boat people). The tales of two refugees waiting for Mr. Okuno at a refugee camp in Thailand left a deep impression on him. One showed him a certificate for 2-dan level in Kodokan judo and said that he wanted to establish himself in judo in the future. The other said that he had worked for a Japanese trading company and, wanting to work in Japan, had sent a letter to the Ambassador but had not heard a word in reply. Mr. Okuno remembers that when he heard this he realized that Japanﾕs policy of not even allowing refugees onto Japanese soil was wrong. The first boat people arrived on Japanﾕs shores in May 1975, followed by a procession of Vietnamese refugees drifting, being picked up from the ocean and making their way to Japan. At the time, Japan had a stringent immigration control policy in place under which only refugees who were pregnant or otherwise needing protection were granted provisional entry. Moreover, it was religious organizations such as Caritas Japan and Tenrikyo that were providing the assistance, and there was a limit to the number of refugees that could be accommodated. Caritas Japan approached the Foundation saying that if money could somehow be found to construct the facilities, they wanted to help many more refugees in need. Upon this request, in November 1975, the Foundation donated a total of 25 million yen to Caritas Japan via the Director of the Immigration Bureau in the Ministry of Justice for the construction of a housing facility. These measures were the first step to the support projects for Asian countries and education that are continuing to this day. As a result of a proposal by Mr. Okuno, an interim program also commenced whereby people involved in welfare in Asian nations were invited to Japan. This saw six Thai welfare workers visit Japan in October 1978. Over the subsequent thirty years, this invitation program has come to hold a pivotal position in the Foundationﾕs activities. Seventeen nations are involved in the program, with five people each from sixteen of these being invited in groups of four countries over four occasions annually, for a total of eighty visitors to Japan each year. 4. The Launch of the Refugee Assistance Headquarters In February 1978, President Okuno posed a question to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sonoda, at the meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives. He said that as an Asian nation itself, should not the Japanese government take a humanitarian stance of its own volition and allow into the country refugees that have fled their homeland to escape political persecution, let them resettle, perhaps not permanently but for a year or two, and protect them for that time. Fortunately, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was sympathetic to this, and this query of President Okunoﾕs in the Diet provided the opportunity for the resettlement in Japan of Vietnamese refugees to be recognized with Cabinet approval in April 1978. This was extended the following year to also include refugees from Laos and Cambodia, where civil war continued to rage. The resettlement of Indo-Chinese-born former exchange students already in Japan was also permitted, and a framework of 500 people was set. This framework was later expanded to 10,000 people, and then repealed entirely in 1994, since when resettlement has been permitted without any such specific framework. In July 1979, the Japanese government established the Liaison and Coordination Council for Indo-Chinese Refugees and Displaced Persons in the Cabinet to enhance and strengthen measures for Indo-Chinese Refugees, and entrusted the Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People with those duties. This led to the establishment within the Foundation of the Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ) in November 1979. Mr. Torao Komori, a former member of staff of the Ministry of Labor, became the first Director-General, and its offices were in the Landic Akasaka Building, 2-3-4 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo. In order to provide education, health care and job referrals to refugees wanting to resettle in Japan, RHQ opened the Himeji Resettlement Promotion Center in Hyogo prefecture in December 1979, and the Yamato Resettlement Promotion Center in Kanagawa prefecture in February 1980. With these kinds of refugee programs being developed, Japan became a signatory to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (ratified in 1981). Then in February 1982, the Omura Refugee Reception Center was opened in Nagasaki prefecture to provide medical checks and guidance on the culture and customs of Japan for the entrance of refugees into the Resettlement Promotion Centers. With greater numbers of refugees arriving, the International Refugee Assistance Headquarters opened its doors in Shinagawa District of Tokyo in April 1983, where Japanese language education, guidance for Japanese life and job referral services were provided. Each of these centers was built by the Japanese government, with their operation being entrusted to the FWEAP. January 1982 saw the first Festival to Encourage Resettled Indo-Chinese Refugees held by the FWEAP. The President presented certificates of thanks to those people who had provided cooperation in the form of offering refugees places to work, and awards to refugees who were good role models in order to promote the resettlement of refugees in Japan through hard work and the sweat of their brow. The event has become a permanent feature, not only as an opportunity for refugees to perform dances and songs from their homelands and have fun, but also to carry on the culture of their countries of origin. The word ﾒorphanﾓ was also removed from the name of the Foundation in establishing the Refugee Assistance Headquarters, changing to the current Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People. 5. Construction of the Foundation Building Despite the work of the Foundation expanding in this way, there was still no Foundation office to serve as the base for conducting business. With the construction of an office building still pending, having the Foundation headquarters and the RHQ in different, cramped locations was inconvenient and not conducive to carrying out business. In 1984, Tokyo Metropolitan Government readily consented to a request from President Okuno to sell municipal land at 5-1-27 Minami-Azabu in Minato District to the Foundation. The Foundation building completed on April 30, 1985, is a steel-framed reinforced concrete structure with four above-ground levels and one underground level, has a total floor area of 1263 m2, and stands on land of an area of 437.95 m2. The total cost of the works came to 982,614,450 yen (land componentﾑ586,474,450 yen; constructionﾑ396,140,000 yen). The second to fourth floors are used for Foundation offices, with income from tenants in the first and basement floors providing sustenance for Foundation activities. 6. Enhancement and Reform of Foundation Assets The construction of the Foundation Building brought stability to Foundation operations. At the end of the fiscal year in which construction was completed (FY1985) the assets of the Foundation totaled 1,524,653,967 yen comprised of: fundﾑ10 million yen; endowments (land, bonds, etc)ﾑ862,332,239 yen; other assets (buildings, deposits, etc.)ﾑ 652,321,728 yen. For greater clarity of asset management as a non-profit organization, a separate basic assets accounts system was established in addition to the general accounts. At the same time, it was decided that buildings, fixtures and depreciating negotiable securities, which had been treated as basic assets, would be treated as working assets to get through a difficult environment for capital operations and allow for smoother business operations. At the end of March 2001, there were basic assets of 1,330,875,230 yen and working assets of 408,109,493 yen for a total of 1,738,984,723 yen. Over this time, President Okuno made a series of donations totaling 83.51 million yen from his personal assets. A donation of 20 million yen was also made by House of Representatives member Bunmei Ibuki in 1990, which we added to our basic assets. We also have continuing contributions to our general accounts, receiving as working funds 3.6 million yen annually since 1996 from Mayekawa Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and 1-3 million yen each year since 2000 from All Japan Fashion Teachers. The system was also reformed as of October 1, 1999 in line with cabinet resolution of September 20, 1996 regarding authorization for the establishment of non-profit organizations and guidance and supervision standards. This saw the establishment of a Board of Councilors in addition to the Board of Directors. 7. Transitions in Refugee Assistance The circumstances surrounding refugees began to change from 1986 with an increase in the number of boat people seeking work as seasonal migrants. Against this backdrop, the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) was adopted at the United Nations International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees in June 1989. The CPA encouraged screening of newly arriving boat people, with those not duly recognized being sent back to their country of origin. Due to the resultant drastic drop in the number of boat people and the stabilization of the political situation in the three Indo-Chinese nations, the screening system was abolished in March 1994. Under these circumstances, the Foundation was entrusted by the government to undertake separate refugee protection programs, coordination of overseas refugee assistance projects and volunteer development support. These changes in the Indo-Chinese refugee environment saw the Refugee Assistance Headquarters close the Omura Refugee Reception Center at the end of March 1995, the Himeji Resettlement Promotion Center at the end of March 1996, and the Yamato Resettlement Promotion Center at the end of March, 1998. Meanwhile, because there was a large number of Indo-Chinese refugees living in the Kansai area and western Japan, the Kansai Branch of RHQ was opened in the city of Kobe in June 1996 to liaise and coordinate with them and relevant organizations. Intake of the overseas families of refugees became possible as of 1996 under the Orderly Departure Program (ODP). RHQ provided Japanese language education, counseling for daily life and job referral service for these new arrivals at the International Refugee Assistance Headquarters. New refugee measures were approved by Cabinet in August 2002 for resettlement assistance for those refugees recognized by the Minister of Justice based on the Refugee Convention (convention refugees), and the Cabinet Liaison and Coordination Council for Indo-Chinese Refugees and Displaced Persons was renamed the Liaison and Coordination Council for Refugees. From fiscal 2003 these refugees and their families were able to receive Japanese language education, living guidance and vocational assistance at the International Refugee Assistance Headquarters. The Emergency Shelter for Refugee Applicants (ESFRA) also opened its doors in the same year for those applying for refugee status. In July 2003, Cabinet decided to conclude the intake of Indo-Chinese refugees as of the end of March 2006, and the International Refugee Assistance Headquarters was closed down at the end of March 2006. Meanwhile, the RHQ Support Center was opened in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo to continue providing resettlement assistance in the form of Japanese language education, guidance for Japanese life and job referral services to convention refugees. Remembering the 23 years of the Centerﾕs service, resettled refugee supporters who were the last to use the International Refugee Assistance Headquarters held a commemorative event to record their feelings of gratitude by planting a flowering dogwood tree in the Minato-ga-oka Wharf Park on October 6, 2006. Commendations The Foundation has received letters of gratitude and certificates of commendation for its various activities during its history. Letter of gratitude November 7, 1982 Awarded by Iqbal Ali Mohammed, Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Japan, for promoting programs for the resettlement of Indo-Chinese refugees.  Letter of gratitude November 16, 1990 Awarded by Seiroku Kajiyama, Minister of Justice, on the 40th anniversary of immigration control for contributing to the smooth operation of immigration control through support programs for Indo-Chinese refugees.  Certificate of commendation April 13, 1992 Awarded by Michio Watanabe, Minister of Foreign Affairs, for continued endeavors in support activities for refugees and producing remarkable results in contributing to friendship and goodwill between Japan and other nations.  Certificate of commendation October 26, 1995 Awarded by Tomiichi Murayama, Prime Minister, for outstanding achievements over twenty years of accepting Indo-Chinese refugees in implementing refugee measures and providing a lasting example for the Japanese people.  Commemorative sculpture May 25, 2005 Awarded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres (former Prime Minister of Portugal) as a mark of gratitude for 26 years of refugee resettlement assistance.
Successive Presidents
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