TOKYO: The Japanese government will allow Ukrainian evacuees displaced by Russia's invasion to work after they are accepted into the country, the justice minister said Tuesday.
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.
The change will give them residency and the legal right to engage in work, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said.
"We will flexibly respond to the visa status, sufficiently taking into consideration the situation facing the evacuees," Furukawa told a press conference.
The move came after Ukrainian ambassador Sergiy Korsunsky and others have called on Japan to allow the evacuees to work.
Separately, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the government is "urgently considering the response of the whole government," such as extending support measures to secure the evacuees' accommodations, supply daily necessities, and help them get jobs and study in Japan.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed Furukawa and other related ministers to prepare measures to assist evacuees fleeing from Ukraine, Matsuno said. The government will cooperate with firms and local governments that have announced their intention to accept the evacuees and study measures based on requests of people who want to evacuate to Japan, Matsuno said.
Japan had accepted 47 Ukrainian evacuees by Sunday, according to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, after Kishida announced on March 2 that it would open the door as part of Tokyo's humanitarian response. All 47 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.
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.
