TOKYO: Twenty evacuees from Ukraine arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday, along with Japanese Foreign Minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa, who returned on a government plane from his visit to Poland.

The standby plane of the government jet brought the Ukrainian evacuees from Warsaw as they strongly hoped to come to Japan but had difficulties doing so on their own, according to Hayashi, who spoke at a press conference before his departure.

The 20 evacuees include those who have no relatives or acquaintances in Japan.

The Japanese government plans to support them, as well as some 400 Ukrainian people who have already fled to the country, where their relatives or friends live, assuming initially that they will stay for around six months.

After their arrival, the 20 evacuees will wait at quarantine facilities in principle under Japan’s COVID-19 border control measures. If they test negative for the novel coronavirus on the third day of their stay, they will be allowed to move to the places of their relatives or friends, or hotels.

As of Friday, the government had received a total of 618 offers from local governments and companies to support Ukrainian evacuees. Taking such offers into account, the government plans to comprehensively support the evacuees’ daily lives in Japan, including covering their living costs and medical fees.

“We’ll take various support measures,” Chief Cabinet Secretary MATSUNO Hirokazu told a press conference on Tuesday.

JIJI Press