No plans to accept African immigrants in new pact

• Thousands of Japanese are faulting the proposed “Africa hometowns” status of their cities, terming the deal a recipe for creating “flood of immigrants” into the Asian nation.
• Last week, JICA announced the designation of Imabari, Kisarazu, Sanjo and Nagai cities as “Africa hometowns” targeting people from Nigeria, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Ghana for cultural exchanges.
• On account of media reports, this designation of cities has been misconstrued in Africa to mean that locals can now relocate to live in those urban centres in Japan.

A move that was originally aimed at uniquely cementing the relations between select African countries and Japan is fast evolving into a xenophobic row as residents of four Japanese cities fault the initiative as a recipe of creating “flood of immigrants.”

The dispute stems from an expression of cooperation under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which announced the qualification of Imabari, Kisarazu, Sanjo and Nagai cities as “Africa hometowns” targeting people from Tanzania, Mozambique, Nigeria and Ghana.

The “Africa hometowns” arrangement is an initiative that was unveiled during the just concluded Japan-African development forum, TICAD, held in Yokohama city, envisioning the experiential exchange of experts and the hosting of showcases to foster closer bonds and understanding between the far east country and Africa.

The fine print of this programme in the pipeline, however, appears to have been misconstrued, with conflicting and potentially wrong reports coming from Nigeria, Tanzania and Ghana as well.

Take for instance, “Japan dedicates Nagai city to Tanzania,” screamed an article in Tanzania Times. Across the Indian Ocean in Japan, thousands have been interpreting the word “dedicates” to mean ‘sasageru’, an even weightier phrase that means the city was being “sacrificed” to Tanzanians.

In yet another article by Business Insider, Abiodun Oladunjoye, Director of Information at the State House, Nigeria went even further expressing his views about the “Africa hometowns” status saying this designation is tailored to boost population growth, “The four cities will foster a foundation for two-way exchanges for manpower development that will add value to the economic growth of Japan, Nigeria, and the other three African nations. Local authorities hope that the designations will increase the population of their cities, contributing to their regional revitalization efforts.”

Africa hometowns status triggers storm

It is in view of these conflicting messaging and others that JICA programme has triggered a huge backlash across the Asian country, with locals taking on top officials with angry calls and emails on what they fear is a looming “flood of immigrants” from Africa.

On account of social media sentiments, a significant number of citizens in the developed nation believe that the official designation of “hometowns” by JICA means that an increasing number of Ghanaians, Nigerians, Tanzanians and Mozambiqans will get preferential visas to live and work in the set cities.

TheJapanTimes published a post on X that has gathered millions of views stating, “Nigerians are already enthusiastic and delighted about moving to Kisarazu City with their families, working there, giving birth in Japan, and so on.”

“If immigrants come flooding in, who is going to take responsibility?” one post on social media states. Kisarazu is “seriously considering handing over the city to Africans,” added yet another post on X.

City officials continue to receive an avalanche of emails from concerned citizens, who are seeking clarification about the said initiative. “Our team of 15 officials spent a whole day handling hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails from residents,” a Sanjo city officer told the AFP.

No special visas for Nigerians to move to Japan

On Friday, authorities in Tokyo issued a statement, countering a position taken by the government of Nigeria that stated that Tokyo will be setting up a new visa category allowing professionals from Nigeria to relocate to the far east.

Both JICA and Japan have appealed to the government of Nigeria to correct and clarify on the matter of issuing special visas to Nigerians. Foreign Affairs ministry has faulted Nigeria, saying President Tinubu’s press release on Friday last week “contained information inconsistent with the facts, such as the issuance of a special visa” by Japan.

Authorities in Nigeria claimed boldly that they have struck a deal for Tokyo to “create a special visa category for highly skilled, innovative, and talented young Nigerians who want to move to Kisarazu (the city assigned to Nigeria as a partner) to live and work,” Kyodo News stated.

Which begs the question: What was meant by “JICA Africa Hometown” initiative? The plan sought to designate up to four cities in Japan as “hometowns” benefitting four African countries through showcases, and expos.

“There are no plans to take measures to promote the acceptance of immigrants or issue special visas for residents of African countries, and the series of reports and announcements concerning such measures are not true,” a statement from Japan’s Foreign Ministry notes in part.

Japan: No plans to accept African immigrants

According to Yoshimasa Hayashi, who is Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, the thinking that people from Africa will be getting special visas is baseless. “There are no plans to promote accepting immigrants,” he told the press.

Additionally, leaders from the select “Africa hometowns” have come out guns blazing, explaining that they do not look forward to “accepting migrants.”

While acknowledging that Kisarazu hosted athletes from Nigeria for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, mayor Yoshikuni Watanabe noted that JICA’s plan “will involve cooperating in the education of young people based on discipline through baseball and softball, and it’s not a programme that will lead to relocation or immigration.”

Also making clarification was Ryo Takizawa, the mayor of Sanjo city who had counsel for Ghanaians, stating: “It is not true that the city has requested to accept migrants or immigrants from Ghana, and the city has no plans to make such a request in the future.”

Read also: Japan readies $5 billion support for new “Indian Ocean-Africa” economic zone