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Japan’s planetary assistance bureau said Thursday it volition cancel a relationship speech programme with African nations aft mendacious beliefs dispersed that it would unfastened the doorway to waves of migrants.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency said it would scrap the “JICA Africa Hometown” initiative, which was designed to foster taste and societal exchanges betwixt 4 African countries and arsenic galore determination Japanese cities.
But the announcement triggered a flood of emails and telephone calls to the participating cities from anxious radical who believed the programme was a caller migration policy.
Local officials became truthful overwhelmed by the backlash that they struggled to transportation retired regular municipal operations.
“The task caused misunderstandings and confusion,” JICA President Akihiko Tanaka told a property conference.
“The Africa Hometown inaugural volition beryllium withdrawn,” helium said.
The cancellation came amid rising anti-immigration sentiment successful Japan, contempt the state maintaining 1 of the strictest migration policies successful the developed world.
The JICA inaugural was announced arsenic portion of a large Africa improvement league that Japan hosted successful August.
It aimed to supply occupation grooming and taste exchanges, and did not see migration pathways oregon peculiar visa arrangements.
But the announcement sparked mendacious claims — peculiarly online — that African migrants would flood the participating cities: Kisarazu, Sanjo, Imabari and Nagai.
The anxiousness was besides fuelled by a mistaken announcement by the Nigerian government, which said Japan would “create a peculiar visa category”, arsenic good arsenic immoderate media reports and societal media posts claiming the programme was designed to facilitate migration to Japan.
The Japanese government, the participating cities and mainstream media person repeatedly denied the claims. But contempt the denials, the cities continued to person thousands of captious messages.
Japanese politicians person acknowledged that the state with a shrinking colonisation needs young overseas workers to powerfulness its economy, but stay cautious astir imperishable migration itself.
Foreigners marque up conscionable 3 percent of Japan’s workforce, but the “Japanese first” Sanseito enactment did good successful precocious location elections, with its calls for “stricter rules and limits” connected immigration.
Tanaka said JICA would proceed to connection planetary speech programmes, including those with Africa, and stressed the bureau does not woody with migration issues.
AFP
The station Japan scraps Africa Hometown inaugural implicit mendacious migration fears appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.
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