TOKYO: Over 60 percent of people who fled Ukraine to Japan said that they want to remain in the Asian nation, a survey by the Nippon Foundation has shown.

According to the survey, 24.7 percent said that they want to stay in Japan as long as possible, while 40.8 percent said that they would like to continue living in Japan until the situation in Ukraine calms down.

The foundation conducted the survey online between Nov. 28 and Dec. 12, receiving answers from 750 evacuees aged 18 or older who are currently receiving support from the foundation after fleeing Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion of their country.

Of the respondents, 60.9 percent did not have jobs, with around 60 percent of them saying they were seeking to get employed.

Nearly half of the respondents said that they cannot speak or understand Japanese.

A man in his 60s voiced his worries over how long he would be able to live in his current residence, while a woman in her 20s said that it is difficult for her to find a job and that wage levels were very low.

On support measures they thought were necessary aside from benefit money and daily necessities, 55.9 percent said they wanted aid for entertainment or tourism purposes, while 39.2 percent asked for vocational support and 36 percent said they wanted help in making Japanese friends.

“It seems that more and more evacuees want to settle down (in Japan) to work or go out and socialize, as (the current Ukraine situation) has forced them to stay in Japan longer than they had expected,” an official at the foundation said.

JIJI Press