JAKARTA POST


 

Japan's justice minister said Tuesday the government has accepted into the country eight people displaced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, following an earlier announcement by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to do so as Tokyo ramps up its humanitarian support.

"We will work together with the relevant ministries and agencies so that we can proactively and swiftly accept" evacuees from Ukraine, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said at a parliament session. Kishida said last Wednesday the government will first allow in people who have fled Ukraine and have relatives or acquaintances in Japan.

But the door will also open to those who do not, given the severe humanitarian situation, he added.


"Japan will allow in people who have fled Ukraine to third countries as we wish to show our solidarity with the people of Ukraine when the world is at a critical juncture," Kishida told reporters in announcing the policy.

While easing its border controls introduced amid the coronavirus pandemic, Japan still maintains a cap on the number of people arriving from overseas, including Japanese nationals, at 5,000 a day. Evacuees from Ukraine do not count toward the daily limit, according to Kishida.