A Story of Perseverance
Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, here is Guillain’s story, transitioning from life in Congo to his current life in Japan. Working in the medical field in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guillain was successfully able to transition into his work in Japan, though it took a lot of hard work and preservation. While fleeing from Congo to Japan, Guillain decided to apply for refugee status. During the process, he received help from various individuals and organizations. However, after many months of waiting, Guillain decided to stop the refugee status application, and rather find other ways to stay and work in Japan, first through applying to the School of Health Innovation in Tokyo and eventually obtaining permission to work. Today, he continues to work at a hospital in Japan. This is a story of the resilience and triumph of a refugee who never gave in to the challenging refugee recognition and diligently forged his way through his new life in Japan.
1. Leaving Congo
“The feeling that I lost everything. It was like I’m just lost.”
Guillain was in danger. In Congo, Guillain grew up witnessing unconstitutional practices, such as the extension of President Kabila’s mandate, and the broader sociopolitical injustices. He stood up against the government’s oppressive actions, advocating for justice, working to educate young adults about their rights, and mobilizing resistance. Alas, such activism led to their persecution and violent oppression by the government. Guillain was one of those persecuted, and he was forced to escape from Congo to seek safety. During this process, Guillain experienced a lot of loss. “The feeling…[that] I lost everything,” he struggles to describe.
Much of Guillain’s thoughts were focused on survival, and that was his only plan when leaving Congo. When asked why he chose Japan as a place to seek refuge, he explained that the situations in the neighboring African countries were going through equally bad problems and that he had concerns about systemic racism in Canada or the United States. Although Guillain did not know much about Japan, he says he believed that there would be support for refugees as a signatory to the Refugee Convention. However, he says he was not expecting to face so much language barrier.
2. Settling in Japan
2.1. Early Support
Naturally, Guillain had several concerns about his life in a completely new environment on the other side of the world. However, he says he was able to receive support that helped him settle in Japan. One of the examples is the Japan Association for Refugees (JAR), which is one of the largest refugee support organizations in Japan. Guillain had been in touch with them even before his arrival, and they were the first people he went to meet once he landed in Tokyo. At their office, after Guillain explained his situation in detail, they provided him with extensive information about refugees and asylum seekers in Japan, including how to apply for asylum and where to find the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, and asked many questions to better understand his needs. Guillain frequently returned to JAR to pick up food and other necessities, and it was during one of these visits that he met another narrator of ours, Ruben, who introduced him to students of Sophia University and our project.
Guillain also received support from other organizations. When he had to shelter at a McDonald’s for a short while due to the shelter’s occupancy, it was the Catholic Church and members of the WELgee, an organization supporting career development for refugees, that invited him to live with them. He stayed with them for about eight months, during which time he also received support from the Japanese government. Guillain often picked up food from the Catholic Church or Second Harvest Japan, a nonprofit food bank, helping him sustain his new life in Japan.
“So it’s the same situation in Japan, people are not helpful outside of organizations. People don’t help. So you are lost. You don’t know where to go. But in Japan, jibun de, massugu ni itte (go straight on your own).”
However, Guillain also experienced some culture shocks that made his experience adjusting to life in Japan a little difficult. One of the examples that Guillain provides is the difference in friendliness. Guillain describes he felt that Japanese society was “unfriendly” compared to his home country and that not many people were willing to help you apart from the support organizations. To illustrate, he gives an example of being told to go find his way on his own when he was lost.
2.2. Struggle for Refugee Recognition
Another important part of settling into his new life in Japan was getting legally recognized as a refugee. However, Guillain soon found the refugee application process difficult. He often had to get out of work at the last minute every time he was called to come in and have an interview. In addition, Guillain explains there were various issues, such as the language barrier which hindered his ability to communicate and get his thoughts and ideas across. It especially became an issue when the interpreter the immigration provided had an elementary level of French and thus could not translate the complex details of his persecution. “If the person is not able to show the gravity of the problem that we are facing, that send you to leave your country, the Japanese cannot understand,” he says.
During the application process, he had the assistance of a lawyer, Shogo Watanabe, whom he met through WELgee. Shogo Watanabe is a well-established refugee lawyer and the representative of the Japan Lawyers Network for Refugees. With his help, Guillain applied for refugee status in July 2018. However, it was not until 2020 that he received the decision – and he was rejected. He re-applied and went in for the interviews, but was rejected again in the following year. Having to ask for a day off every time he was called in for an interview all this time, Guillain was worried that the application would negatively affect his career in Japan. Furthermore, at this point, the refugee acceptance rate in Japan was merely 1 percent. Having met people from countries with an ongoing war whose applications were rejected, Guillain thought his chance of getting recognition was also low. Considering these factors, Guillain stopped the continuation of the refugee status application and decided to focus on obtaining another visa instead.
“I’ve seen some Syrian people who were rejected. Everyone knows that in Syria, there is a war. I’ve seen some people from Afghanistan rejected. So we cannot say that to be in a state of war is to ensure that they accept you.”
3. Search for an Alternative Path
Guillain came up with a plan for getting a more permanent and secured right to stay and work in Japan. “I think I followed all the steps,” he describes, recalling how his plan consisted of learning Japanese first, then getting a qualification in a school, and finally obtaining a work visa. He put the plan into action and enrolled in Akamonkai, a Japanese school recognized for its excellence by the government. He studied there for 10 months, and upon receiving a certificate for completing the program, he began the process of applying to university.
Guillain applied to the School of Health Innovation at Kanagawa University of Human Services. When asked why he chose this school, he reminded us of his passion for helping people, saying “My dream was to study health innovation and introduce a new technology in a medical field to see how we can improve people.” The school, established to solve the problems of the aging society in Japan by utilizing technology to improve public health, was therefore perfect for Guillain, who wanted to understand “how we can also help African countries, especially Congo.”
As the School of Health Innovation taught in mostly Japanese, Guillain says he encountered language barriers again during his studies. However, he had support from his peers and the members of the Sophia Refugee Support Group this time. With the help from friends and the practice he had every day, he realized that not being afraid of making mistakes was the key to learning a language. “Maybe if you talk to me after one year, you will see that there are improvements,” Guillain says with a smile. The support from his friends was also valuable when the classes went online during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were a lot of uncertainties and unfamiliar aspects of online learning, but he reflects, “They helped me. They showed me all.” Guillain overcame these challenges, completed the program, and even found a job that would sponsor his visa with the help of the school; his resilience in the face of two rejections of his refugee status and his adaptability in forging a new path paid off.
4. Working in Japan
Although it took a while, Guillain was eventually able to obtain a work permit in Japan and find a job. However, Guillain looks back on this transition from working in Congo to working in Japan and describes the process as difficult. One of the things he had to get used to was the colors of business attire; “Our culture in Africa is colorful. We have clothes that is colorful. Blue braids, neckties, something like that. But in a Japanese company, just gray and black suits. It’s difficult,” he explains. What affected Guillain more was feeling different as the only black person in the company. “I thought because I’m the only black person here, maybe they don’t like me,” he describes about the time he wondered if the rules he was being told were only for him. Although the rules turned out to be the company’s policy applicable to all employees, what came naturally for his Japanese colleagues was completely new to him.
Right: Business attire in Japan (WorkinJapan.Today)
A typical work day in the life of Guillain starts at 7 AM. The hospital he works at is just 15 minutes away, so he has time to review new Japanese words and terms that he has just learned After a long day of work, he comes home, talks to his daughter online, then goes to bed. Guillain says one of the biggest skills he gained through working in Japan is time management. In Congo, life was unpredictable. Planning for weeks, or let alone months, in advance was not common. In Japan, on the other hand, he needed to learn to plan his days or even weeks.
After working in Japan for a while, Guillain says he developed two modes. “I have one mode that I’m using with Japanese friends and the mode I’m using with my African friends and international friends,” he describes. To settle down and establish himself well in Japan, he felt the need to change some aspects of himself. This is not unique to Guillain; a lot of refugees and migrants are often held responsible for assimilating or adapting to the new society, especially in the workplace. Nevertheless, Guillain has overcome the lack of legal recognition, language barrier, and cultural differences. With his strength in adaptability and communication, he continues to work at the hospital to this day, just as he set his mind to.
5. Hopes for the Future
Up until now, Guillain has had opportunities for education and work. Although his application for refugee recognition proved to be challenging, he was able to find safety and a more stable life by studying the language, obtaining a qualification, and getting employed in his field of expertise. However, Guillain emphasizes it is not easy for refugees and asylum seekers in Japan to have these kinds of opportunities. He believes a lot of obstacles to higher education or careers remain for them, one being the lack of support from the government. “In Japan, if you don’t work very, very hard, you cannot change your situation,” he explains from his own experience. Toward a society that gives refugees a chance, Guillain sincerely hopes for an improvement in the system.
“Refugees in Japan don’t have too much opportunity.”
Studying and working in Japan has changed the way Guillain views the future. Now, Guillain plans to continue working in Japan for about five or six more years, learning more about the cutting-edge medicine and technology Japan has to offer. In the future, Guillain wishes to bring the knowledge gained here back to his home country, Congo, and create more technologies there like he learned at the School of Health Innovation. He also sees possibilities for collaboration between Congo and Japan, in connecting the students of each country and exchanging knowledge. He believes he excels at connecting people with new business opportunities. There are still various goals and ambitions that Guillain holds for the future.
