Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The Tokyo-based Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center has reported that the total number of Fukushima Prefecture evacuees both outside the prefecture and inside the prefecture is 24,639 people, according to government figures. 

But, the CNIC says, the government statistics do not give a true picture of the realities of evacuation, as the number of voluntary evacuees is not included in the figures. CNIC says when evacuation orders are lifted, those people who are still living as evacuees are excluded from the statistics. 

When comparing the former evacuation order zones with the number of registered residents and the actual number of people living in the zones, it says there is a difference of 38,606. 

“The current statistics are unable to capture the realities of the situation and are little more than a recovery masquerade,” CNIC says. “If voluntary evacuees were included, you would be able to see that larger numbers of people are still living in evacuation.”

Student numbers in the elementary and middle schools in the former evacuation order zones have fallen greatly since the nuclear accident, dropping from 8,348 before the accident to the current figure of 1,241.