Japan Cancels Africa Exchange Programme Amid Immigration Backlash

Japan’s planetary assistance bureau connected Thursday announced the cancellation of a taste speech programme with African nations pursuing wide mendacious claims that it would trigger wide migration.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said it would retreat the “JICA Africa Hometown” initiative, which was designed to foster societal and taste ties betwixt 4 African countries and 4 determination Japanese cities.

Instead, the announcement sparked a surge of telephone calls and emails from residents alarmed by the mistaken content that the programme was a caller migration argumentation to participating cities.

Local officials said the backlash disrupted their quality to transportation retired mean municipal functions.
“The task caused misunderstandings and confusion,” JICA President Akihiko Tanaka told reporters. “The Africa Hometown inaugural volition beryllium withdrawn.”

The disorder was compounded by a Nigerian authorities connection claiming Japan would “create a peculiar visa category,” alongside societal media posts suggesting the programme would pave the mode for African migrants to settee successful Japan.

Authorities successful Japan, on with the participating cities of Kisarazu, Sanjo, Imabari, and Nagai, repeatedly denied the claims, but the towns continued to person thousands of captious messages.

The cancellation came amid heightened anti-immigration sentiment successful Japan, wherever foreigners relationship for conscionable 3 per cent of the workforce.

Despite concerns implicit a shrinking population, governmental parties specified arsenic the right-wing Sanseito person gained traction by calling for stricter migration controls.

Tanaka stressed that JICA does not grip migration matters and would proceed to tally planetary speech programmes, including those involving African nations, but without immoderate migration component.