Japan on Saturday accepted Ukrainian evacuees using seats secured by the government on a direct commercial flight from Poland for the first time.
The six aged between 6 and 55, of which five are female, arrived at Narita airport near Tokyo from Warsaw, according to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.
As Japan has pledged to play a more active role in providing humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian people following Russia's invasion, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that the government will secure seats weekly on direct flights from Poland to Japan for those fleeing from the war-torn country.
Such free-of-charge assistance Japan plans to continue for a while will be available for "people who strongly hope to evacuate to Japan but find it difficult to arrange a medium to travel on their own," the agency said, as the war waged by Russia drags on and millions of refugees have fled Ukraine.
If they have no acquaintances or families in Japan, they can stay in hotel rooms to be arranged by the government after they enter the country.
Until now, Ukrainian evacuees came to Japan by themselves or by a Japanese government plane, which arrived Tuesday at Haneda airport in Tokyo carrying 20 of them from Poland, where Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi visited to learn about the refugee crisis.
As of Wednesday, Japan, known for its strict immigration and refugee policy, has allowed the entry of 437 people from Ukraine.
The Japanese number since March 2, about a week after the war began, is still small given that 4.44 million refugees had fled Ukraine, including about 2.56 million to Poland and about 678,000 to Romania, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Related coverage:
Japan locals eager to help Ukrainian evacuees, over 700 offers made
20 Ukraine evacuees arrive in Japan from Poland on gov't plane
