Japan Stands by Ukrainian Refugees
Admin GHRTV
01-03-2022
Malina Wiethaus
Japan and Human Rights Researcher
Global Human Rights Defence
On Tuesday, the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that the Japanese government would support refugees fleeing after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is in line with an agreement from the European Union and the United States. Japan promised to extend support by sending $100 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine (Kyodo News, 2022).
Furthermore, Kishida expressed serious concerns about the threat of using nuclear weapons during a phone call with reporters: “As prime minister from the only nation to have suffered the atomic bombings, and in particlura Hiroshima, I stressed that we should never tolerate any threat of use of nuclear weapons”. Thus, in accordance with Britain, Canada, and EU members, Japan's Foreign Ministry decided to heavily sanction Russia (Kyodo News, 2022). Even though the Japanese government has received criticism for not imposing sanctions sooner, Kishida introduced new sanctions on Sunday (Japan News, 2022).
Japanese citizens also stand by Ukrainian citizens. In Japan, over 60 000 individuals donated almost $17.4 million (2 billion yen) to Ukraine. The donations collected by the Embassy of Ukraine in Japan will fund humanitarian aid and reconstruction projects, according to Sergiy Korsunsky, the Ukrainian ambassador. Korsunsky expressed his gratitude for the financial support (Asahi Shimbun, 2022).
Sources and further readings:
Asahi Shimbun. (2022, March 1). 60,000 donors in Japan pledge 2 billion yen to support
Ukraine | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis. The Asahi
Shimbun. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14561002
Japan News. (2022, March 1). Japanese prime minister strongly condemns Russia over
invasion of Ukraine. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from
https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0008318993
KYODO NEWS. (2022, March 1). Japan, U.S., EU to aid refugees after Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/03/b92c7d58a0ff-us-eu-japan-leaders-urge-i
ntl-community-to-unite-against-russia.html
