Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama said Tuesday that 11 applications for refugee status submitted by foreigners will shortly be accepted, bringing the total number of such accepted applications to 21 this year.
"Though there had been criticism that Japan is reluctant to accept refugees, I think there is no such thing as that," Moriyama told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting.
Moriyama was referring to criticism arising from the government's rejection last week of nine Afghan men who had applied for refugee status.
The 11 approved applicants are mostly from four other countries in Asia, according to the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau. Notifications of the bureau's decision to grant refugee status will be delivered to the 11 today, immigration officials said.
The officials said this is the second year in a row that the bureau has approved more than 20 people; 22 applicants were recognized last year. Japan recognized 16 refugees in 1998 and again in 1999.