More than 25 years on, the "father of Vietnamese refugees" recalls the difficult integration
Himeji (AsiaNews/JCN) More than 25 years in the service of Vietnamese refugees, helping them improve their education and economic situation so that they can be fully integrated in Japanese society was Harry Quaadvliet's lifelong task, earning the 76-year-old Belgian-born priest the title of "father of Vietnamese refugees".
Indeed, more that a quarter of a century has passed since the first Vietnamese refugees got permanent residence in Japan, and this thanks to Father Harry who now lives in the Scheut Fathers' Center house in Himeji.
"The generation who were in their 20s or 30s when they arrived in Japan are now in their 50s and 60s," Father Harry recalls, "and about to join the ranks of senior citizens. Some among them are not very fluent in Japanese and living alone. Others have become unbalanced due to stress. Still others are ill and handicapped. One cannot say that these are people who have settled completely into Japanese society."
The Center for Promoting Permanent Residence for Refugees was set up by the Church in Himeji, Hyogo prefecture, in 1979, the first such activity in Japan, to help those fleeing Vietnam.
In a short period of time Father Quaadvliet became its leader and a played a central role in launching a series of programme designed to help the refugees train and improve their economic situation.
Even after the center closed in 1996, the priest remained available for consultations.
"The refugees did not come to Japan of their own volition. When they arrived they had no knowledge of the language or the culture and this led to great hardship. The language barrier made it impossible to choose jobs. Young people who went to work in their teens had no proper schooling either in Vietnam or Japan."
Of course, "some Vietnamese immigrants have been successful in Japan, [but] they are not the norm. Among those who are now permanently resident there are bank employees, teachers and priests, but these are the exception. The truth is that for most refugee families, economic difficulties meant that getting employment for their children came before dreams of sending them for higher learning."
The immigration flow from Vietnam is not over, he explained, because "even now the Vietnamese encourage family members to come here. The problems of finding accommodation and educating children are the same as those we had 30 years ago. And there are still Japanese who have an antipathy to foreigners. The only difference is that the newcomers are helped by family and friends in Japan."
"In taking care of them I became deeply aware of my vocation as a missionary," he said. "All I can do now is share their joys and sufferings but I [also] want to keep helping till we can say they have become part of Japanese society."
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17/12/2020 16:48
