Experts Call For Support For Evacuees From Afghanistan, Other Conflict Areas
Japanese experts on refugee assistance have called for evacuees from Afghanistan and other conflict areas to be given support similar to what Ukrainians are being offered.
Ogawa Reiko, professor at Chiba University, and Orii Norimasa, representative director of Pathways Japan, spoke at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Friday.
Ogawa studies immigration policy and serves as a refugee examination counselor for the Japanese government. Pathways Japan is a private-sector organization providing support to refugees.
The government is accepting evacuees from Ukraine and supporting their travel and living expenses and providing other assistance in cooperation with local governments and NGOs.
Orii said the government's move is unusual and called on the authorities to offer similar support to evacuees from other conflict areas, including Afghanistan.
Ogawa said people in Afghanistan feel despair, thinking they are forgotten. She said it is difficult to explain why the government's response to people from Ukraine is not applied to evacuees from other countries.