Bangkok – The Japanese government will begin interviewing Myanmar refugees in Thailand on Tuesday to grant status of residence in Japan under a U.N. third-country resettlement program.
The interviews of refugees living in Mae La Camp in Mae Sot, northern Thailand, will select 90 people to be admitted to Japan in three years from April.

In December 2008, Japan decided to accept Myanmar refugees under the third-country resettlement program organized by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

For the interviews in the camp, located some 10 kilometers from the border with Myanmar, Japan has narrowed down resettlement candidates from a list of the UNHCR.

Once cleared for resettlement in Japan, Myanmar refugees will take Japanese language training before coming to Japan as early as this autumn.

In Japan, they will be granted resident status and receive six-month settlement support, including vocational training and guidance for adapting to new life in the country.

Mae La Camp is the largest refugee camp in Thailand, where some 50,000 people, including Karens, currently live.