Japan Has No Immediate Plans to Accept Asylum Seekers From Syria

Tokyo has no plans to offer asylum to refugees fleeing war-torn Syria, despite closely monitoring the situation, the Guardian reported Wednesday, citing a Japanese Foreign Ministry official.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The number of refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East, primarily from Syria, as well as North Africa have been pouring into European countries in record numbers.

“We are watching the situation very closely and considering what Japan can do in cooperation with the international community, including the United Nations. We are aware of the large exodus of refugees from the Middle East and Africa and that many lives have been lost. We’re paying close attention to appeals for assistance,” the official said.

Tokyo contributed $181.6 million to the UN refugee agency in the 2014.

According to the watchdog Amnesty International, high-income countries such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea, have so far offered no resettlement places to Syrian refugees.

Earlier this week, Peter Sutherland, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for International Migration, urged Japan, the United States and rich Gulf states to “face their responsibilities” towards Syrian refugees as the mass exodus continues.

According to UN estimates, over 4 million Syrian have fled the country as a result of the four-year-long civil war between the government and opposition forces, further complicated by numerous extremist insurgent groups, active in the country.