Japan’s top envoy brings back 20 Ukrainians from Poland

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi returned from Poland on Tuesday with 20 Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s ongoing war on their country. Tokyo seeks to play a greater role in international support for Ukraine. During three days in Poland, Hayashi visited facilities for Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw and held talks with Polish officials, international humanitarian organizations and civil groups to assess how Japan can provide support. Japan has an extremely strict refugee policy, making its offer to accept Ukrainians unusual. However, the government is carefully calling them evacuees, and it is still unclear if the Ukrainian situation will change its immigration policy.