Japan Accepts 190 Refugees in 2024

Japan’s Immigration Services Agency announced that 190 people were given refugee status in 2024, which is a decrease of 37.3% year on year.

There were 12,373 applications for refugee status, down 10.5% year on year. These came from 92 countries, with most applications from Sri Lanka (19.8%), Thailand (17.2%), Turkey (9.9%), India (7.7%), and Pakistan (5.7%). Thailand had just 184 applications in 2023, but this figure soared to 2,128 in 2024.

By nationality, the highest number of refugees accepted by Japan came from Afghanistan at 102, followed by Myanmar at 36, Yemen at 18, Palestine at 8, and China at 5. The main reason for conferring refugee status was “political opinions” at 177, followed by race at 6 and religion at 4.

A further 1,616 people, although not formally recognized as refugees, were allowed to stay under the status “persons eligible for complementary protection” for evacuees from conflict, which gives the same level of protection as for refugees. Of these, 1,613 were Ukrainian nationals.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)