Ryo Ito - Health Issues for Asylum Seekers in Japan and Australia

Research overview

As well as research in Japan, my fieldwork in Sydney included meetings with Pam Blacker, a nurse at the Asylum Seekers Centre  Safdar Ahmed of the Refugee Art Project and Lesley Carnus of the Refugee Language Programme  I also talked to asylum seekers at the Refugee Language Programme and Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group.

One expected similarity between Japan and Australia is that many asylum seekers suffer serious mental health problems and that detention worsens these. In contrast, one difference is that there is no financial support from the Australian government for medical care for asylum seekers in the community until they receive some kind of protection visa, whereas there is some support in Japan although it is insufficient. As a result, perhaps, medical support from NPOs, like the Asylum Seekers Centre seems to be more important and widespread in Australia than in Japan. I realized again from this that refugee’s health issues are borderless problems all over the world.

At the start of my research, I thought that refugees were not related to me and live in a different world. However, this was changed by meeting with refugees in Sydney. I noticed, for example, that refugees are often well-educated people because I met refugees who had PhDs or Masters Degrees and who were teachers or pharmacists. Many people, however, only know about refugees through negative or inaccurate media coverage, and don’t hear the actual voices and experiences of asylum seekers. So I’ve learnt from my fieldwork that chances to actually talk to asylum seekers and refugees, and projects like Refugee Art Project that help them have a voice, are very important for changing the understanding about refugees and their situation.