By YOSUKE WATANABE/ Staff Writer
August 23, 2022 at 08:00 JST
Two sisters who fled Ukraine offer a silent prayer in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Aug. 6 for victims of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima as they watch a relay broadcast of the Peace Memorial Ceremony held in the prefectural capital. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Nearly two-thirds of Ukrainian evacuees want to stay in Japan until the situation back home calms down, and the ratio would top 90 percent if more assistance is provided, a Nippon Foundation survey showed.
An official at Nippon Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Tokyo, said no end is in sight for the war in Ukraine and called for measures to prevent the evacuees from feeling isolated.
“There is a need to provide long-term assistance in education and employment,” the official said.
According to the survey results released on July 29, 65.1 percent of the Ukrainians said they want to stay in Japan for the time being, while a combined 90.1 percent said they would remain here if additional assistance is available.
The survey was conducted in June and July on about 700 Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion and are receiving assistance money from the foundation. Responses were received from 260 individuals.
Nippon Foundation said in March it was offering more than 5 billion yen ($37 million) in assistance to about 1,000 Ukrainian evacuees over three years.
The survey asked the respondents to choose any assistance categories they found insufficient.
The largest chunk, at 38.5 percent, picked employment opportunities and training, followed by Japanese language education, at 26.9 percent, and medical assistance, at 22.7 percent.
Only a combined 13 percent of the respondents said they can either speak Japanese a little or can speak it well. A combined 36 percent gave similar answers with respect to English.
Nearly half of the respondents, at 46 percent, said they believe there is not enough assistance available for learning Japanese.
They said they were either not learning the language because of the limited support available or that they were learning it despite the insufficient assistance.
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