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Foreign Govts Check On Nationals In Japan After Quake-Tsunami Disaster
TOKYO (Kyodo)--Foreign governments are trying to gather information on their nationals in Japan by dispatching embassy staff to northeastern Japan in the wake of Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami while foreign firms strive to get in touch with their employees, officials involved said Sunday.
A human resource company in China's Shandong Province said it has not been able to get in touch with some 40 Chinese trainees working in severely hit Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture.
The hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima are home to a total of some 16,000 Chinese nationals, according to 2009 Justice Ministry statistics.
The Chinese embassy in Tokyo sent staff to Miyagi Prefecture to gather information, according to Xinhua news agency.
The Indonesian foreign ministry said it has not been able to reach some 325 of around 490 Indonesian nationals in the three prefectures, but its spokesperson said it was due to bad communication and does not consider them missing. Embassy personnel have met with about 70 Indonesians in Sendai, it said.
Miyagi Prefecture has some 4,500 South Korean residents as well. The South Korean foreign ministry said it has not been able to confirm the safety of some 130 Korean students studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, the Miyagi capital, as of Saturday.
Peruvian media reported some 40,000 compatriots living in Japan have been affected by the quake and the whereabouts of 28 of them remain unknown, while the Brazilian foreign ministry said it has received more than 3,000 e-mail inquiries about people's safety as many Brazilians live in Japan.
Top government spokesman Yukio Edano said Sunday he has urged Japanese ministries and offices abroad to actively provide information about the disaster to foreign nationals in and outside Japan as people scrambled to gather information.
''I have instructed relevant ministries and diplomatic missions abroad to proactively disseminate information in English and other various languages so that foreign nationals residing in Japan as well as those overseas who are monitoring developments here would have an accurate grasp of the current situation,'' Edano said in a news conference.
Currently, the prime minister's office has a website (http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html) and users may access the latest quake-related information at a section entitled, ''Countermeasures for 2011 Tohoku district - off the Pacific Ocean Earthquake.''
The section compiles quake-related information including statements from Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano, plus links to relevant agencies such as the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Noriyuki Shikata, spokesman for the foreign press at the prime minister's office, said, ''We are trying to enhance the information posted on our website and asking the various ministries and agencies to step up their information dissemination.''
Shikata added the Foreign Ministry is being asked to transmit information in languages other than English.
Shikata said he is also regularly posting fresh information on his account @norishikata on the social network Twitter.
TOKYO (Kyodo)--Foreign governments are trying to gather information on their nationals in Japan by dispatching embassy staff to northeastern Japan in the wake of Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami while foreign firms strive to get in touch with their employees, officials involved said Sunday.
A human resource company in China's Shandong Province said it has not been able to get in touch with some 40 Chinese trainees working in severely hit Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture.
The hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima are home to a total of some 16,000 Chinese nationals, according to 2009 Justice Ministry statistics.
The Chinese embassy in Tokyo sent staff to Miyagi Prefecture to gather information, according to Xinhua news agency.
The Indonesian foreign ministry said it has not been able to reach some 325 of around 490 Indonesian nationals in the three prefectures, but its spokesperson said it was due to bad communication and does not consider them missing. Embassy personnel have met with about 70 Indonesians in Sendai, it said.
Miyagi Prefecture has some 4,500 South Korean residents as well. The South Korean foreign ministry said it has not been able to confirm the safety of some 130 Korean students studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, the Miyagi capital, as of Saturday.
Peruvian media reported some 40,000 compatriots living in Japan have been affected by the quake and the whereabouts of 28 of them remain unknown, while the Brazilian foreign ministry said it has received more than 3,000 e-mail inquiries about people's safety as many Brazilians live in Japan.
Top government spokesman Yukio Edano said Sunday he has urged Japanese ministries and offices abroad to actively provide information about the disaster to foreign nationals in and outside Japan as people scrambled to gather information.
''I have instructed relevant ministries and diplomatic missions abroad to proactively disseminate information in English and other various languages so that foreign nationals residing in Japan as well as those overseas who are monitoring developments here would have an accurate grasp of the current situation,'' Edano said in a news conference.
Currently, the prime minister's office has a website (http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html) and users may access the latest quake-related information at a section entitled, ''Countermeasures for 2011 Tohoku district - off the Pacific Ocean Earthquake.''
The section compiles quake-related information including statements from Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano, plus links to relevant agencies such as the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Noriyuki Shikata, spokesman for the foreign press at the prime minister's office, said, ''We are trying to enhance the information posted on our website and asking the various ministries and agencies to step up their information dissemination.''
Shikata added the Foreign Ministry is being asked to transmit information in languages other than English.
Shikata said he is also regularly posting fresh information on his account @norishikata on the social network Twitter.
