小川先生は千葉大学移民難民スタディーズ代表。専門は社会学、移民研究。移民政策学会理事、法務省難民審査参与員、NPO法人国際子ども権利センター理事など。2021年8月以降、アフガニスタンからの元留学生や在日アフガニスタン人家族の退避と定着にかかわり、市民社会の連合体であるアフガニスタン退避者受け入れコンソーシアム(AFA)メンバー。https://www.le.chiba-u.jp/graduatesschool/member/ogawa.html　朝日新聞記事：https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASPCY6X65PCVUDCB009.html

Rethinking the Intersection between Migration and Refugee Regime in Japan: Case Study of Evacuation from Afghanistan

There is a dichotomy between migrants and refugees in policy, scholarship, and general understanding, and the two are different. While the definition of a refugee is stated in the International Refugee Convention, there is no legal definition for migrants. The presentation aims to question the boundaries between refugees and migrants through the case study of the evacuation from Afghanistan. On 15th August 2021, the Taliban seized control over Afghanistan, which led to the harrowing exodus of thousands in fear of what will come next. The fear was real for those who have worked for international organizations, foreign governments, ethnic and religious minority groups, and highly educated women who became the primary target that brought them the “well-founded fear of being persecuted”. Even though Japan ratified the 1951 International Refugee Convention, the Afghan evacuees were caught within the interlocking systems of exclusion based on race, gender, class, religion, and international politics, where the legitimate mode of acceptance was restricted to those who were young, independent, and productive. It questions the political construction of the categories and how we label and react to people on the move.

Reiko Ogawa is a professor in the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Chiba University. She specializes in sociology and migration studies and serves as a representative of an interdisciplinary team entitled Chiba Studies on Migration and Refugees at Chiba University. Ogawa also serves as a Refugee Examination Counselor for the Immigration Service Agency of Japan, is a Board Member of the Japan Association for Migration Policy Studies and is also a Board Member of the Japan International Center for the Rights of the Child. Ogawa has been involved in the evacuation and settlement of former Afghan students and families since August 2021 and works as a member of the Action for Afghans (AFA) which is a consortium of civil society organizations.