We held the third counselor training course, "Children in Irregular Immigration."

On September 24, 2023, the APFS office held its third counselor training seminar, "Children in Irregular Immigration." Professor Natsuko Minamino from Toyo University served as the lecturer.
First, we watched a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFcCCLMAa68) broadcast last year on TBS, titled "Children Without Residence Status," which features the voices of children who are actually affected. Afterwards, the speaker discussed how people become "illegible immigrants" in the first place, the legal status of children in this situation, and the impact of not having residence status on children (mental, economic, educational, etc.), incorporating anecdotes from the speaker's research and studies. Finally, the speaker addressed the participants, saying that as support providers (counselors), they may sometimes waver in their commitment to providing support when faced with public opinion, but especially with regard to children, the Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that the "best interests" should naturally be considered, and therefore, they should engage in support with the awareness that "they need to be supported."

I participated as a staff member, and the biggest takeaway for me was that this workshop helped me to articulate and reaffirm some of the vague feelings I had about my daily support activities.

The next topic is "Medical Care for Irregular Immigrants and Asylum Seekers." The lecturer will be Dr. Junpei Yamamura from Minatomachi Clinic. (One cancellation has occurred (as of September 25th). Please contact us if you wish to participate.)