Photo/Illutration A mother from Ukraine arriving via Poland is reunited with her daughter at Narita Airport near Tokyo on April 9. (Shinnosuke Ito)

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan announced on Sept. 14 that it will extend a program to provide living allowances to people who fled Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in February.

The current six-month support period will be extended to one year.

The program, which began in late March, was initially set to end about six months after evacuees from Ukraine came to Japan.

However, the agency decided to continue the support as the war has dragged on for nearly seven months.

The living allowances were provided to mainly those who do not have any relatives or acquaintances in Japan. So far, 224 people have received the assistance from March 29 to Sept. 14.

Costs, including medical expenses, were covered by approximately 2.4 billion yen ($16 million) from the government’s reserve funds.

The agency said the evacuees receive up to 1,000 yen per day for living expenses while being provided meals at hotels where they are temporarily staying after arriving in Japan.

The agency has worked to connect them with local governments, companies and organizations that provide living accommodations and a job.

When the evacuees leave the temporary hotel housings to move to accommodations offered by such entities, they receive a one-time payment of 160,000 yen, then up to 2,400 yen per day for living expenses.

As of Sept. 12, 1,878 evacuees from Ukraine have come to Japan. About 20 percent of them are under 18.

The evacuees have short-term residency visas for 90 days following their arrival.

After that period, the Japanese government allows them to switch their status of residence to “designated activities,” which allows them to work for one year in Japan.

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