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Unofficial residents of 'Warabistan' get by with a
little help from friends
Lively music filled the air in the park as adults
and children -- both Kurdish and Japanese -- formed
a circle and danced hand in hand under the bright
blue sky.
Each March 21, Kurds hold a festival called Newroz
to mark the first day of spring.
"Newroz celebrates liberty and independence for the
Kurds," said Mehmet Kilinc, a staff member of
Kurdistan and Japan Yuko Kyokai (Friendship
Association) based in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture.
"On this day, nearly 2,000 years ago, Kurds gained
their freedom."
According to the Newroz myth, the ancestors of the
Kurds, living in an area occupying what is now parts
of Turkey, Iran and Iraq, won their freedom by
bringing down the Assyrian empire in 612 B.C.
Kurdistan and Japan Yuko Kyokai was created in July
2003. Its membership of about 50 people includes
Kurdish asylum-seekers, mostly from Turkey, and
their Japanese supporters. This year marked the
second year that the association celebrated Newroz
in Warabi City Park.
Kilinc, 33, estimates that more than 100 Kurds and
dozens of Japanese participated in the event.
"I felt as if I were reborn," Kilinc said. "This was
a day for peace, which we are all praying for."
But a group of lawyers supporting Kurdish
asylum-seekers says the Turkish government has
labeled Kurdistan and Japan Yuko Kyokai as a group
engaged in terrorist activities and asked a Japanese
lawmaker to ensure that it was disbanded.
"All we wanted to do was to share our Kurdish
culture with the Japanese people," Kilinc said. "We
have not caused any problems and (Japanese
authorities) know that. That's why we have been able
to continue."
Together with their Japanese supporters, the
organization has been active in spreading the
Kurdish culture among the public through events such
as Newroz, Kurdish cooking lessons, Kurdish film
screening and discussions.
But it took a long time for the association to get
to where it is today, Kilinc said.
Kilinc arrived in Japan in 1994 on a tourist visa,
seeking to escape persecution by Turkish authorities
for supporting the Kurdish rights movement.
He applied for refugee status two years later. But
under Japanese law, people can only be considered
for asylum if they apply within 60 days of arrival
in the country. Kilinc's application was rejected.
A Turkish broker who arranged Kilinc's trip and
accompanied him to Japan took him by bus to Warabi,
where he said many foreigners lived.
With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, Kilinc
lived in a park for two weeks. He ate only apples
and bananas because they were the only foods he
recognized.
"I truly thought I might die," Kilinc said of that
time.
He eventually met other Kurds and they occasionally
gathered to exchange information on how to survive.
Their numbers gradually increased, and about 100 now
live in Warabi. Recognition and support for Kurds
has also begun to spread among Japanese residents of
the city.
But Kurdish asylum-seekers are still in a severe
situation, Kilinc said.
"We live every day in fear of detention and
deportation," he said. "The reason why we do not
have the exact number of Kurdish members in our
organization is because people keep being detained
and released."
Medical service is also a serious problem for
asylum-seekers because they do not have access to
health insurance. And without insurance, the cost of
medical care, including giving birth, is extremely
expensive.
"Health is our biggest concern," Kilinc said. "We
have little money as it is, and if we get sick, we
make desperate efforts to pay the bill."
Asylum-seekers who are not being detained are out on
provisional releases, a status that prohibits them
from engaging in any money-earning activities.
The government-affiliated Refugee Assistance
Headquarters (RHQ) provides financial support to
such people. But the procedure for receiving aid
takes a long time and covers only one portion of
those in need, leaving some with no choice but to
work in secret, their supporters say.
Renting apartments is a difficult task because
foreigners need a Japanese guarantor.
"We have to ask around our Japanese friends to find
someone to vouch for us," Kilinc said.
Warabi assembly member Tadashi Kobayashi has become
an important friend to Kilinc and other Kurdish
asylum-seekers in the city.
Because asylum-seeking Kurds like Kilinc are not
"official" residents of the city, they do not have
access to public facilities, including the park
where Newroz was held.
Kobayashi thus arranged on behalf of the Kurds,
including borrowing the space, chairs and tents for
the event.
The Kurds "might be foreigners without official
residency status, but it is also true that they live
in this city," Kobayashi said. "It shouldn't matter
whether they have resident registration or not.
Their fundamental human rights should be secured
just as equally as" city residents.
Kobayashi said the government is oblivious to
asylum-seekers' situation in Japan, including their
financial and medical needs.
"These Kurds fled from one severe environment and
landed in another," Kobayashi said. "But with the
cooperation and understanding of the city residents,
I believe we will be able to build a coexisting
society."
For Kurds like Kilinc, Warabi might be slowly
becoming such a place.
"We call Warabi Warabistan," Kilinc said with a
smile. "Because this city has become our second
home."
www.japantimes.co.jp
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