Japan has newly recognized 114 people from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as refugees.

The Immigration Services Agency says they are among more than 800 people who fled to Japan from Afghanistan after the Islamist group took power in August 2021.

Sources familiar with the matter say the newly recognized refugees are people who worked for the Afghanistan office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency and their relatives.

The sources also say the refugees have been granted resident status in Japan and will be able to live there permanently if they meet certain requirements.

The latest recognition comes as some rights groups say Japan's criteria for granting refugee status are too strict compared with those of Western countries.