Aid groups and Afghan expatriates in Japan have expressed concern for the people of Afghanistan as its democratic government collapsed with the Taliban's capture of Kabul.
According to the Immigration Services Agency and other sources, there were 3,509 Afghan people in Japan at the end of December. Chiba Prefecture has the largest population, with 730 Afghans residing in Yotsukaido in the northern part of the prefecture as of the end of July.
"One Afghan man living in the prefecture told me yesterday that he wanted to bring his family [in Afghanistan] to Japan because the capital may be taken over. Many of his compatriots in Japan are worried," Hidetoshi Kojima, 73, the head of the Yotsukaido Cross-Cultural Association, said on Monday.
The Taliban regime ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, barring women from such social activities as attending school and working. The Shanti Volunteer Association, a Tokyo-based public interest incorporated organization, built 25 schools in Afghanistan and worked to improve women's literacy and the operation of libraries there.
"I'm concerned that the 20 years of effort Afghanistan put into education and women's participation in society may be undone," said Akiko Suzuki, 38, a spokesperson for the association.
Peshawar-kai is a nongovernmental organization based in Fukuoka that has worked to build agricultural waterways, among other projects, in Afghanistan. It suspended all its operations in the country from Sunday. There are currently no Japanese members of Peshawar-kai in Afghanistan.
For many years, the group was headed by Dr. Tetsu Nakamura, who was killed in Afghanistan in December 2019 at the age of 73. Peshawar-kai has successfully irrigated 16,500 hectares of land that had turned to desert due to war and drought.
"We want to resume our work as soon as we could confirm the safety [of our members]," the group said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
