"Don’t forget about us," a grandmother said quietly. I unconsciously gazed at her once again. Overwhelmed by the old lady’s emotional eyes that reflected everything that she had in her mind including a longing for home, memories of persecution, and embarrassment in a foreign country, I could not talk to her any longer. I kept releasing the shutter in the hope that the day will come when she can live in her hometown again without worry.

• 

• This was my third visit to India. However, it was the first time for me to focus on people that fled their home countries as refugees. Delhi, the country’s capital covered with sand, dust and smoke so thick as to make lights unrecognizable, and flooded with people busily coming and going amid the shouting street vendors all around. What lives do refugees live in a city so full of vitality?
  
  I found that as many as 200,000 people had already sought refuge in India for protection from battles in their home countries and danger. Some had lived in geographically close countries such as Myanmar and Afghanistan, while others came from as far as Somalia, Sudan and Syria, based on the visas granted.

• 

• "Women rarely work outside in my country," said Layla (age 22) who had fled from Afghanistan to India in September 2015. She was working as a cashier in a Middle Eastern restaurant every day to help her younger brother and sister attend school. Just leaving home for work was like an adventure because of the discrimination and prejudices that she might experience. During my stay, Layla and other women often told me about the hardships suffered by women who came from Islamic countries. India had been applying relatively generous policies to working refugees. Local NGOs were busy providing them with work training and raising their income level. Even so, it was difficult for people from countries with different cultures to flourish easily. To survive in a foreign country, they had to cope with the difficulties that were different from severe realities they experienced in their home countries.
  
  "I feel safe in this country. No doubt about that. But …" After a little while, Layla started to speak nostalgically. "I cannot see the stars in the sky that I used to watch from my hometown in this country." I wondered how beautiful her town had been before the situation had deteriorated!
  
  The face of Layla, a cheerful lady with a smile, was clouded suddenly when she began to speak about her town and family. She had been unable to get in touch with her older brother for almost a year and a half. She knows that there will be no improvements in the difficult situation in her hometown, while she is in India away from the problems. Keeping such thoughts about her home country deep inside, she continues to lead her life in a society whose language and culture are different.

• 

• Despite such a background, she looked dignified and lively when she was working for customers in the restaurant. During my stay, I had a chance to speak not only with Layla but also Rohingya women engaging in an embroidery work, Afghan youngsters working as opening staff members in a famous shoe store, and a Chin family who had launched a business of exporting dried fishes. "I can live anywhere in the future because I worked hard to acquire skills in this country," said a Chin lady proudly who was aiming to become a beautician. They were not only working to make money but to nurture their self-esteem and establish their roles in society. I was told by many people that they wanted to work for Japanese companies as well.
  
  We are inclined to think of the refugee problem as an issue happening in countries far from Japan such as the Middle East and Africa. However, we should pay attention to the fact that people quietly live uncertain lives as evacuees in much closer Asian countries as well. Imagine that it is happening in the same society instead of some distant places. We will find that there are many more things we can do than what we have done so far. What response can we give to the lady who said, "Don’t forget about us" ?