Four Afghan evacuees have arrived in Japan from Afghanistan as refugees following the Taliban’s return to power, with the government arranging for more evacuees to enter the country, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
The evacuees — a local worker for the Japan International Cooperation Agency in Afghanistan and the worker’s family members — arrived at Narita Airport near Tokyo on Sunday evening, becoming the first Afghan refugees in Japan after the Taliban’s takeover.
The ministry said they left Afghanistan by land in late August on their own without Japan’s assistance after the Taliban returned to power in mid-August and have no health problems.
They are currently staying on a short-term visa and quarantined as part of Japan’s measures against the novel coronavirus. The ministry said that once they decide whether they wish to continue staying in Japan or leave for another country, it will respond accordingly.
Japan will continue to seek the safe evacuation of Afghans who worked for Japanese organizations as well as others from the country who qualify for evacuation by air and other means through negotiations with the Taliban — all while sheltering those who have evacuated on their own, the ministry said.
Former Afghan students who studied in Japan can also qualify for assistance if they have a guarantor, the ministry said.
“We have offered necessary assistance such as issuing a visa and arranging airline tickets,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference in Tokyo, adding that the government will continue to provide support for other evacuees.
The four Afghans arrived in Japan via Doha in the Gulf state of Qatar and arrangements are being made for further Afghan evacuees to arrive in Japan soon — on Monday or later — with the government and JICA shouldering travel and accommodation expenses, ministry officials said.
The government did not negotiate with the Taliban over the entry of the four Afghans, the officials said.
The Self-Defense Forces were dispatched to the region in late August to evacuate around 500 people wishing to leave Afghanistan.
By the end of the evacuation mission on Aug. 31, the SDF had only evacuated one Japanese as well as 14 Afghans at the request of the United States.
A temporary office that Japan set up for its Kabul embassy in Qatar on Sept. 1 is expected to be responsible for evacuation support.
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