Japan: We must look after our citizens first before taking in refugees

Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe

Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe has said that his nation needs to attend to its own demographic challenges posed by falling birth rates and an aging population before opening its doors to refugees. He announced that Japan is ramping up assistance in response to the exodus of refugees to Europe from the Middle East and Africa. He said Japan will provide $1.5 billion in emergency aid for refugees and for stabilization of communities facing upheaval.
He further stressed that Japan first needed to attend to domestic challenges which he proposes to tackle under a revamped economic policy that aims to boost GDP to a post-war record level, while bolstering the social security system to support families.
"As an issue of demography, I would say that before accepting immigrants or refugees we need to have more activities by women, by elderly people and we must raise (the) birth rate. There are many things that we should do before accepting immigrants," Abe told a news conference, according to the official translation of his comments.
He added that Japan would "discharge our own responsibility" in addressing the refugee crisis, which he described as helping to improve conditions that cause the exodus. Abe earlier told the world body that Japan would provide $810 million this year for emergency assistance of refugees and internally displaced persons from Syria and Iraq, triple what it gave last year. Abe said Japan is also preparing about $750 million for stabilization efforts in the Middle East and Africa.

Source: AssociatedPress