Refugees’ skills coming into focus in Japan’s IT field as program helps many find work

TOKYO — This year, the number of refugees and displaced due to conflicts and persecution has hit an estimated 120 million worldwide. While Japan is said to have been reluctant to accept refugees, efforts are underway to focus on their skills, provide educational opportunities and support, and utilize their abilities as highly skilled workers.

Iskandar Salama, 31, a Syrian national who fled his country after civil war broke out, now works as chief technology officer at Tokyo-based systems development company BonZuttner Inc.

“I want to serve as a bridge between Syria and Japan,” he said in fluent Japanese.

In Syria, anti-regime protests that began in March 2011 escalated into civil war. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), nearly 6 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries. Salama was one of them. He had been studying computer programming at Damascus University in the Syrian capital of Damascus, but when the civil war worsened, he escaped with his family to neighboring Lebanon.

As the war dragged on, Salama learned about a program the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) launched in 2017 to accept Syrian refugees as international students with Japanese government support. Although he only had an image of Japan as a country that produced high-quality home appliances and cars, he applied to sit the program exam in a bid to escape his situation.

The aim of the program is to nurture human resources who will play a part in the future reconstruction of Syria and foster friendly relations with Japan. Every year, JICA accepts about 20 students recognized by the UNHCR as refugees and helps cover their living expenses. Those accepted study for two to three years at the graduate schools of 12 universities in Japan, mainly in the fields of engineering, information and communications, business administration, social sciences and health sciences.

The students can bring their families with them, and they have access to substantial support for their daily lives and in improving their Japanese language ability. So far, 79 people have come to Japan on the program, and 48 have found jobs in the country. With a predominance of science majors, most work in IT-related businesses. As there is no end to the civil war in sight, JICA plans to continue accepting them.

In 2018, Salama entered the Graduate School of Science and Engineering at Soka University, where he researched artificial intelligence. After finishing a two-year master’s course, he entered BonZuttner Inc. in 2020, and began working on developing apps and web services. In his third year after entering the company, he switched to the “Highly Skilled Professional (i)” residence status and now leads an independent life in a country far from home.

“In Japan, I’m not a refugee, but a professional IT engineer. Through my work, I want to help people who are suffering in my home country,” he said.

In June, the revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act went into effect, bringing changes to the rules for detaining and deporting foreign nationals without proper legal status. From asylum seekers’ third application for refugee status, it becomes possible to deport them, which has raised concerns among those involved.

BonZuttner Inc. provides a place to work for Syrian IT engineers who fled to neighboring countries to escape the civil war. The company’s president, Yuki Sakashita, 37, comments, “Public opinion in Japan regarding refugees seems to be stuck in a debate of the extreme dualism of either accepting or excluding them. If highly skilled refugees are shown to succeed in business, the perception of refugees in general will also change.”

(Japanese original by Akira Iida, Tokyo City News Department)