THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 9, 2021 at 15:00 JST
Afghan nationals arrive at Narita Airport on Sept. 12. (Hikaru Uchida)
For the first time, local Afghan staff members with strong ties to Japan have been evacuated by plane out of Afghanistan since the Taliban occupied Kabul in mid-August, according to government sources.
Fifty-three Afghans arrived in Japan on Oct. 8 after being airlifted out of the Afghan capital.
The Afghans were local staff who had worked at the Japanese Embassy or Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as well as their family members.
The cooperation of the Qatar government was obtained in airlifting for the first time local staff working at the Japanese Embassy.
The government had initially planned to provide support to evacuate about 500 Afghans who worked at the embassy or for JICA as well as their family members.
Between Sept. 12 and Oct. 1, a total of about 50 Afghans, including students planning to study in Japan, fled their nation over land and then flew to Japan from a transit point.
However, the Foreign Ministry was seeking ways to airlift Afghans out of the nation because officials could not recommend going by land to neighboring nations due to the high level of danger involved.
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