In the years after World War II, most countries of the world signed a United Nations agreement pledging to protect those fleeing persecution. But there are now more people forcibly displaced from their homes than at any time in history, and few will find a new country to settle in.
To understand the breadth of the global refugee crisis, and the failure of the international system designed to protect refugees, Gothamist/WNYC reporter Matt Katz went to a country that doesn’t get much attention when it comes to this issue: Japan. This stable and wealthy nation awards legal status to fewer than 1 percent of asylum seekers, despite a shrinking population and need for laborers. In this first of a five-part audio series called Unsettled, Matt introduces us to a Congolese refugee on a quest to win asylum in Japan.