TOKYO, April 5 (Prensa Latina) – About 20 Ukrainian evacuees arrived on Japanese territory today on the same government plane that Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi returned on after completing his three-day visit to Poland.
In brief statements to the press, the foreign minister said he was bringing with him citizens who had no emotional ties to Japan and who could not afford to travel to Japan themselves due to the high air fares.
This is an exceptional measure by Tokyo, which was taking in few refugees before the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine. In 2020, the government allowed entry to only 47 people with this status out of nearly four thousand applicants, Japan Today newspaper reported.
The newcomers from the European nation are accommodated in government-provided facilities and receive alimony to cover their living expenses.
Staying in the country will last 90 days, but Ukrainians who wish can work, learn Japanese and switch to a “specific activity” qualification to get a one-year residency permit.
To date, Japan has taken in 404 refugees amid “the serious humanitarian situation,” as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described the exodus of Ukrainians fleeing the armed conflict in their country.
The Russian offensive began on February 24 in response to a request for help from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in the face of increasing attacks from Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the aim of the operation is to defend the people of Donbass and to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.
He also stressed that the Kremlin will not allow Kyiv to acquire nuclear weapons, which poses a threat to his country’s security.
He warned that other conditions for ending hostilities would be the country’s non-admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the introduction of guarantees of that state’s military neutrality and recognition of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
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