Japan Announces Granting Asylum To 114 Afghan Citizens

Hirokazu Matsuno, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, announced that this year, 114 Afghans have been granted asylum in the country.

It has been reported that after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, about 800 Afghan citizens had applied for asylum in Japan.

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan said that of 800 Afghan asylum seekers, 114 have been granted asylum so far. The status of other Afghan refugees is not clear yet.

These asylum seekers are Afghans who had worked for the office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Afghanistan.

It has been said that these Afghans who have received Japanese residency can live permanently in this country if they meet certain conditions.

Meanwhile, human rights groups stressed that compared to Western countries, Japan's criteria for granting asylum is "highly strict”.