The building housing the Immigration Services Agency: Afternoon of the 25th, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
A Russian man who criticizes Russia’s Putin administration, effectively sought asylum in Japan before the invasion of Ukraine, and is seeking refugee status has been granted three special permits to stay at the discretion of the Minister of Justice. I learned on the 25th that it appeared in the middle of the month. This was revealed by the man himself and others involved. It is unusual for Russians who apply for refugee status to be granted a residence permit.
In Russia, since the invasion of Ukraine, the government has been thoroughly suppressing dissident citizens, and it is possible that the Japanese government took this into account.
The man emphasized that he wanted to leave Russia, which is ruled by the authoritarian President Putin. If he returned to Russia, he said, he would be “in prison or sent to the battlefield in Ukraine.”
Tags: Japanese government considers crackdown granting residence permit antiregime Russian nationals Tokyo Shimbun TOKYO Web
