The repatriation offer is part of a new drive to encourage Japan’s sizable pool of Latin American factory workers to leave the recession-wracked country. Full Story »
Posted by Margarita Persico - via Hiroko Tabuchi
He said the United States had been “a failure on the immigration front,” and cited extreme income inequalities between rich Americans and poor immigrants. More »
A surprisingly good report on the ruthlessness the Japanese have when they want too. (WW11) After promising jobs, at the first sign of downward economy, they want them gone. While not being quiet as in-depth as I would like,a fair report.
It's a shame what the Japanese are doing. Having made a deal with the foreign workers, they now throw them away like trash.
Interesting take on how one country is handling the recession. The article does go into the background of the immigrants, and notes Japan's low birthrate demographic problem. It also points up the xenophobia which has long characterized that country (foreigners were almost totally excluded for a few centuries). But in a way, it says as much about Latin America as about Japan - apparently the other country with a similar program is Spain, where one assumes the immigrant labor speaks Spanish already. One thing not mentioned is the status of the Japanese Ainu (if I'm spelling it right) - the northern group who are basically outcasts too - but that wasn't the article's purpose..
I was in Japan in 2007 - it is just incredibly rare to see anyone who is not Japanese anywhere. It was in a way a relief to be on the streetcar home from the airport watching people of four or five different skin shades speaking in six or seven different languages!
The only thing it is missing is a deeper examination/explanation of the role racism plays in the impetus for this policy.
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