On November 29, DP President Renho met with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi at party headquarters during his visit to Japan.
At the start of the meeting, Renho welcomed Grandi’s visit to Japan. Grandi expressed his appreciation and went on to state that the issue of refugees is a cross-party one, and that he hoped Japan would be able to exercise leadership from a humanitarian perspective.
In response, Renho stated that the refugee issue is indeed one that should be tackled in a bipartisan fashion. She expressed her concern about the current international situation, “We are beginning to see a shift in attitudes towards refugees and immigrants.” Grandi said that he shared her concern, and that the issue of refugees should not be politicized, and must be dealt with from a humanitarian perspective. With regard to eliminating the issue of refugees, Renho cited the example of Syria and said that the DP would work to strengthen related international frameworks.
Hiroe Makiyama, Director General of the International Department of the Democratic Party who also attended the meeting, inquired about how refugees could be reduced. Grandi pointed out the importance of prevention of disputes as an example.
