222 Evacuees from Middle East Arrive at Narita Airport

Tokyo, March 14 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese government-chartered flight carrying 222 evacuees from the Middle East arrived at Narita International Airport near Tokyo from the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on Saturday. The evacuees are Japanese nationals from Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and non-Japanese family members, according to the Foreign Ministry. It was the sixth flight chartered by the government for its operations to evacuate Japanese nationals and others from the Middle East, where tensions are rising amid the conflict between U.S.-Israeli forces and Iran. The flights transported a total of 1,104 people to Japan. As commercial flight operations are gradually restarting, the Japanese government will suspend evacuation support using chartered flights for the time being. “We will closely monitor further developments in the (Middle East) situation and take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on X, formerly Twitter. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]