Japan’s government, which currently observes strict bans on foreign entries, made a rare exception to this policy on Tuesday when it welcomed 20 Ukrainians fleeing their country’s latest war with Russia into Tokyo on a government plane accompanying Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa upon his return from a recent trip to Poland.
Japan’s Kyodo News agency described the arrival of 20 Ukrainians in Tokyo on April 5 as an “exceptional move” by the Japanese government, which currently bans any foreigner who has spent time in certain countries (including Ukraine) within the past 14 days from entering Japan due to concerns about Chinese coronavirus transmission.
“For the time being, foreign nationals who have stayed in any of the following 159 countries/regions within 14 days prior to the application for landing are denied to enter Japan in pursuant to the Article 5, paragraph (1), item (xiv) of Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, unless special exceptional circumstances are found,” Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs states on its website in a current notice last updated on March 30.
Ukraine is listed among the 159 countries and regions currently included in Japan’s “denial of permission to entry.”
Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa revealed Tokyo’s plans to allow the entry of 20 Ukrainians into Japan on Monday during a press conference held as part of his official visit to Poland from April 2 to April 4.
“We have decided that 20 evacuees, who are wishing to travel to Japan but unable to secure means of transportation on their own, will get on a backup government plane when I return to Japan,” Hayashi told reporters on April 4 ahead of his return to Tokyo from Warsaw, Poland, later that same day.
Japanese Senior Vice Justice Minister Jun Tsushima, who accompanied Hayashi to Poland on April 2, told reporters on April 4 that Japan’s government plans to provide housing, employment, and language learning services to the group of 20 Ukrainians for roughly six months.
Hayashi visited Poland in recent days as a special envoy of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio. Tokyo orchestrated the foreign minister’s visit to demonstrate the Japanese government’s “commitment to global efforts at helping Ukrainians fleeing the war,” Kyodo News reported on Monday.
The news agency referred to Ukraine’s latest war with neighboring Russia. Moscow launched the military conflict on February 24, just 72 hours after announcing plans to formally recognize the independence of two Russian-backed separatist states in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region known as the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR).