Tokyo, 15 March, /AJMEDIA
Japan’s government will allow Ukrainian evacuees to work in the country after it started accepting people displaced by Russia’s invasion, the justice minister said Tuesday.
Under the measure, the evacuees who are granted short-term residency for 90 days when entering Japan, will be permitted to extend their visas to “designated activities” status for one year residency and allowed to work, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said.
The move came as Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky and others have called on Japan to allow the evacuees to work.
The country had accepted 29 Ukrainian people by Saturday, according to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on March 2 that it would do so as part of Tokyo’s humanitarian support.
All 29 have been granted short-term visas. An extended visa status will enable them to register as residents of the country.
Ukrainians coming to Japan in the future will also be granted short-term residency when entering and allowed to change their status later, the government said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that Kishida has instructed the government to prepare measures to assist evacuees fleeing from Ukraine.
“We are urgently considering the response of the whole government, such as support measures” when accepting evacuees, Matsuno told a news conference.
Kishida said earlier this month that the government will first allow in people who have fled Ukraine and have relatives or acquaintances in Japan, but the door will also be opened to those who do not, given the severe humanitarian situation.
