847.2
Facing the Inequalities in Integration and Reintegration: Indonesian Children of Migrants in Japan
Successful reintegration into the home country begins in the host country (Kathleen Newland and Aaron Terrazas, 2009). Children are usually not reckoned as vulnerable when migrating with their family. Parents and common people often think that moving temporarily to a developed country will give no distress. However, the true problems have arisen both in integration and reintegration. Indonesian children of migrants have to encounter challenges and inequalities when practicing cultural and religious norms in a country where those are different or do not exist. The interview with Indonesian moslem children revealed a fact that they felt a little "different" when their Japanese friends asked about why they were fasting. Meanwhile, in the reintegration, most of them experienced the phase of silence when they did not feel belong to the society while they know they should. One respondent had experienced an unsuccessful reintegration when his school became one terrifying place because he was bullied for his unreadiness to face language and cultural challenges. He remains friendless until now. In the findings, it is revealed that parents usually claimed that the there were no significant problems in both phases. They were all worried only about getting a school and financing the children. While, some children showed the opposite behaviors, telling that their parents did not know their feelings. Some even felt traumatic in migrating to Japan. All children deserve to have a safe place wherever they are in the world. This issue should be well-addressed by parents, schools both in Japan and Indonesia, and endorsed by the government policies to properly support these children in undergoing the adaptation phases, especially the underestimated reintegration.