Japan mulls changing refugee category

NIIGATA Kyodo Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida said on Saturday that the government is considering creating a more loosely defined refugee category to accept people fleeing conflicts because of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Kishida said at a meeting in Niigata that the Justice Ministry is considering a system for accepting refugees from a humanitarian standpoint even if they don't fall under the 1951 refugee convention.

The Prime Minister stressed that the envisioned system would not discriminate against certain countries, and that Japan will strive to do its work in accordance with the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

A refugee is a person who can't return to their country or is unwilling to do so because of a perceived fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

People fleeing conflicts have long found a narrow path to attaining refugee status in Japan, with the government typically recognizing only about 1 percent of refugee applications, drawing criticism from human rights organizations.

Since it began in late February, Japan has accepted more than 500 evacuees fleeing the war in Ukraine.