Family Reunification
Mr. A worked as a human rights journalist in a country in Africa. Because of his work, he was considered a threat by both the government of his country and the opposition. He received physical threats and after many ups and downs, he had to leave his wife and children behind and flee the country. He arrived in Japan in January 2007.
Since his three children were still very small and his youngest one was yet to be born, his plan was to flee to somewhere safe and return to the country as soon as public safety was restored.
Unfortunately, the situation in his country got worse and he had to stay and apply for asylum in Japan. His asylum request was approved in October 2008. Immediately, following, he began pursuing a way to bring his family to Japan.
Lawsuit that overturned government’s rejection of refugee status
Mr. B is also an asylum applicant in Japan from the same African country as Mr. A. Mr. B was a middle school teacher in his country.
His father was arrested for anti-government activities and died from brain damage caused by torture from their government.
As his father, Mr. B was also involved with anti-government activities. This caused Mr. B to receive an order to appear by the government. This made him realize that he was in a great danger. So he decided to leave his country.
Chioyko scholarship
Trying to set goals and create a sense of normalcy amidst the challenges of so much future unknown, is a common challenge among refugee and asylum seekers.
REN believes people should not have to abandon their educational goals because of her or his situation. To support this, REN provides annual scholarships to two to five refugee students for high school, university, or vocational school.
The Chioyoko scholarship fund began in 2007 after the passing of Koba Chiyoko, one of REN's translation collaborators for the KANERE Project.
