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Unsympathetic Illustration of Refugee Sparks Uproar in Japan

With Europe struggling to cope with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war zones, Syria in particular, a debate has been generated between countries that welcome the migrants and provide for them (like Germany) and countries that bar their way (like Hungary). Although the issue is of minor consequence in distant Japan, an illustration posted on Facebook on September 10 has provoked a debate along similar lines.

The illustration is the work of Toshiko Hasumi and says: "I want to live in safety. I want to lead a clean life. I want to eat delicious food. I want to play freely. I want to be fashionable. I want luxury. I want to live so that I won't have any hardship WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY. THAT'S IT - I'LL BE A REFUGEE!"

Hasumi expresses her views further in the post caption, claiming that Syrian refugees are "almost all immigrants" and alleges that the family of Alan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee whose drowning on the crossing from Turkey! to Greece became an international symbol of the challenges refugees face, had lived in Turkey! for years and that the father stayed behind while the mother and Alan made the crossing with the intention of applying for refugee status and securing residency.

The illustration has shocked Japanese, who have condemned it as racist. Aki Okuda, a political activist, posted it on his Twitter account on September 29 and called for Facebook to remove it. The post has been retweeted 2,194 times so far, but Facebook has declined to remove it, claiming that it does not violate its policy. Offended netizens have taken to a petition on Change.org instead; it has received 7,402 supporters at the time of writing, very close to its goal of 7,500.

Critics of the drawing allege that it might impede efforts to support refugees and ridicules the weak; one blog labeled it "Japan's Shame." Others assert that opportunists might be mingled within the crowd and complain that removing the image would violate freedom of expression.

Hasumi's cartoon might be based on this photo.

Hasumi has a generally conservative political stance; her other cartoons mock Korean "comfort women" and the student movement opposing Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. Japan has largely avoided the refugee issue; it only accepted 11 out of 5,000 applications in 2014 and Abe has opted to increase foreign aid rather than accept more migrants.

[Via The Japan Times, Twitter and J-Cast News]