NOTE: Refugees/asylum applicants can NOT receive any livelihood/housing assistance by calling or visiting us at the JELA Foundation’s office. (So don’t waste money on phone calls or transportation.)
- If you are a first-time asylum applicant in Japan and have financial/housing needs, you should first contact the Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ).
- Other counseling/consultation services are listed here. (You may get a security warning from your browser, but the webpage is safe to visit.)
IMPORTANT MESSAGE
for those who are considering traveling to Japan to apply for refugee status
JELA’s Refugee Support offers two types of assistance to refugees and asylum seekers currently residing in Japan: housing and scholarships.
Overview
JELA provides support to people who have fled from their own countries and come to Japan to seek protection from political, religious, and other types of persecution.
JELA’s Refugee Support Program began in 1984 in response to a request from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. In the course of consultation and discussion with the Japanese government and other NGOs, JELA came to recognize the need for housing that asylum seekers could use without financial concerns.
Now JELA owns two apartment buildings in Tokyo and runs them as rent-free shelters for refugees and asylum seekers whose vulnerability is deemed high. Another pillar to JELA’s Refugee Program is providing scholarships to refugees and asylum seekers in Japan who have been admitted to a Japanese college but cannot afford tuition fees.
JELA House
JELA owns two residential buildings named JELA House to provide shelter primarily for asylum seekers in vulnerable situations. One building (JELA House 1), located in northwestern Tokyo, has been in operation since 1991. The other (JELA House 2), situated in the eastern part of the city, has been operational since 2011.
JELA House 1 is a women-only shelter styled as a single-family house and features 6 furnished, lockable bedrooms, along with shared kitchens, bathrooms, and electric appliances. JELA House 2 is an apartment building with 11 furnished apartments, each equipped with basic electric appliances.
Living in a JELA House is completely free of charge, and utility costs are also covered by JELA. A Japanese supervisor lives in each shelter to answer residents’ questions and respond to emergencies.
We decide who to house in our shelters primarily based on the requests from partner NGOs that provide livelihood support to refugees and asylum seekers.
We also offer free lessons about twice a week in JELA House 1, to refugees who are willing to learn Japanese. The teachers are volunteers but professionally skilled, and the lesson levels vary from beginner to intermediate. The Japanese lessons are taught in French/English, and we are always looking for a volunteer teacher. One of the differences between Japanese and other languages is grammar, because in Japanese the verb goes at the end of the sentence, something that feels instinctually wrong for English speakers. Although Japanese is a difficult language to learn and the refugees have a hard time remembering Hiragana (Japanese alphabet), the teachers are very supportive and caring.
Partnership with other organizations
JELA is a member of the Forum for Refugees Japan (FRJ), a network of major NGOs that provide different kinds of support to refugees in Japan. We also host a triannual round-table meeting on refugee relief, in which people from refugee-supporting NGOs, the UNHCR, and government sections involved in refugee-related policies gather and exchange opinions in an informal setting.