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Asia can learn from Europe’s immigration mistakes

Release Date
2025-10-15
Media
Japan Times
Summary
Japan’s political discourse on immigration has become increasingly xenophobic, with LDP candidates adopting alarmist rhetoric and conflating distinct categories like immigrants, temporary workers, refugees, and tourists. This risks derailing rational policy debate even as Japan faces a severe demographic crisis: by 2050, only 1.5 working-age adults will support each retiree.

Lessons from the West show that mass immigration without strong integration policies creates long-term social and political costs. Germany’s 2015 refugee intake and past Japanese migration experiments (e.g., Brazilian workers, Indonesian/Filipino nurses) illustrate limited economic gains and significant integration challenges. Even well-managed immigration in countries like Canada faces limits when infrastructure and social support lag.

Asia’s situation is exacerbated by declining fertility rates in both sending and receiving countries, meaning the pool of potential migrants is shrinking. Mass migration is therefore an increasingly unreliable solution.

In contrast, family-focused pro-natalist policies, like Hungary’s aggressive incentives for young families, have successfully increased fertility with minimal reliance on immigration. Surveys in Europe show that the public generally favors supporting families over immigration as a demographic solution.

Key lessons for Asia:

Immigration without massive integration investment causes social fragmentation.

Immigration politics are volatile and can fuel xenophobia, destabilizing societies.

Pro-natalist policies can work if properly funded and implemented.

Reliance on migrant labor is risky due to global fertility declines.

Japan’s current trajectory, normalizing xenophobic rhetoric, risks repeating Western mistakes while failing to address its demographic crisis. Sustainable solutions require supporting families and children rather than pursuing politically convenient, short-term immigration fixes.
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Immigration Policy

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