Great Tohoku Earthquake refugees to Okinawa reach 1062.

According to officials at Okinawa Prefecture, the number of refugees who have applied for help under the Disaster Relief Act and have evacuated to Okinawa from areas affected by the Great Tohoku Earthquake has reached 750. The total number stands now at 1062 including people who evacuated on their own.

The number of refugees especially from Fukushima Prefecture has increased because of the accident at the nuclear power station in Fukushima as a result of the quake and tsunami. It is hard for them to go back to their former residences because of radiation, and they are expected to stay longer at their places of evacuation.

678 people from Fukushima Prefecture, 64 from Miyagi, two from Iwate, five from Chiba, and one from Ibaraki are receiving assistance on the basis of the Disaster Relief Act. The number of evacuees from Fukushima has increased by 90 since last February.

New applications for housing assistance because of the evacuation were accepted last December, and at the same time the term for assisted staying was extended to three years. However, refugees who can’t go back to their homes are asking for extending the period more.

00:09 30 Mar , 2024