WORLD REFUGEES DAY 2011 Symposium- 30 years of Asylum in Japan: Reflections and Perspectives

011 marks the 60th Anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (hereinafter, the
Convention), as well as the 30th Anniversary of Japan's accession to the Convention. World Refugee Day 20
June 2011 provides a good opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on these occasions, assess the current state
of the asylum system in Japan and discuss the future of asylum in Japan. By co-organizing this symposium, the
Forum for Refugees Japan (FRJ) and UNHCR aim to bring together national and local government officials and
representatives from the academic, legal and civil societies. It will serve as a podium for forward-looking
discussions.

Keynote speeches by a Japanese government official and the Representative of UNHCR will consider the
developments in Japan and elsewhere. The symposium will demonstrate a new role for refugees in Japan. A
short video and a refugee's personal account will chronicle the recent support that refugees have shown the
victims of the March 2011 Tohoku natural disasters. The symposium will also have two discussion panels. The
first panel will address the system from the legal angle, especially status determination procedures, detention
and other protection related matters. The second panel will host stakeholders that look at the framework of
assistance in Japan with a focus on local integration and the ongoing resettlement project. Both panels are
expected to offer perspectives as to the future of asylum in Japan. The audience will have an opportunity to
weigh in on the discussion through the Q & A session that will follow each panel discussion.

FRJ and UNHCR invite you to attend this symposium and participate in what promises to be an informative, open
and interesting dialogue among several stakeholders of the asylum process in Japan.

UNHCR also takes the opportunity to invite you to attend the commemorative ceremony of lighting the world
renowned landmark, Tokyo Tower. On 20 June, the Tokyo Tower will light up in blue for 3 hours between 7:00 -
10:00 pm to show solidarity with refugees around the world and the people affected by the crisis in Japan. More
details about the ceremony and the lighting of the Tokyo Tower will soon appear on UNHCR's public website in
Japan:
Date&Time: 20 June 2011, 13:00-16:15 (Registration opens at 12:30)
Place: Elizabeth Rose Hall, United Nations University
Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925
Free
Organiser -------------- Forum for Refugees Japan (FRJ)
Co-organiser -------------- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)