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Cheers and laughter echoed Sunday morning around
Waseda University's soccer field in Nishitokyo as an
estimated 150 people seeking asylum, lawyers,
Japanese volunteers and friends gathered for an
annual futsal tournament to mark World Refugee Day.
"One Ball, No Border" was launched last year by
young officials in the Japan International
Cooperation Agency, an affiliate of the Foreign
Ministry.
Nine teams took part in the five-a-side tournament,
including some made up of Turkish Kurds, Afghans,
Iranians, Myanmarese and Chinese seeking asylum.
"(Futsal) allows for all people to join together as
one regardless of their ethnicity, religion or
(status as) a refugee," said Eiji Wakamatsu, a
26-year-old representative of the event. "Today is a
day for the (people seeking asylum) to become stars,
to be given an opportunity to become heroes."
A Kurd who only gave his initials as T.H. said he
had been looking forward to this day so he could
befriend people of diverse nationalities.
People seeking asylum "are always living in fear of
being detained," said T.H., who was detained for
nearly a month at the Tokyo Regional Immigration
Bureau in April. "Today is a special day for us.
Just for one day, we can forget about all of the
fear and pain and truly enjoy ourselves."
The championship match featured the Afghan team vs.
a group of young Japanese soccer fans. Under the
glaring sun, the two sides fought for victory as
nearly 100 people stood on the sidelines rooting for
both teams.
The Afghans won 4-3 and were presented with a soccer
ball trophy signed by Sadako Ogata, the former
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Kurdish team that won last year's event lost to
the Afghans in the semifinals by a score of 2-1.
"I am so disappointed," said T.H., the captain of
the Kurdish team. "But we have next year's
tournament to look forward to."
www.japantimes.co.jp
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