Nearly 70 percent of Miyake Island's evacuees said they felt life away from the volcanic island is "difficult," according to the results of a Kyodo News poll released Sunday.
The figure was 15 percentage points higher than the results of a similar survey conducted in October on the 3,800 islanders, who were ordered to evacuate last September, the news agency said.
The survey also showed that 42.5 percent of the 200 evacuees, who responded over the telephone between Feb. 23 and Feb. 26., said they "do not have sufficient income," a seven percentage point rise from the previous poll.
After six months of life away from the island 180 km south of Tokyo, the latest survey showed that an increasing number of evacuees are facing both mental and economic difficulties due to their protracted lives as refugees.
According to the latest survey, 15.5 percent of respondents said life in their temporary homes is "very hard," unchanged from the October poll. Meanwhile, 52.5 percent said life was "more or less hard," up 15 percentage points, while a total of 30.5 percent answered life was either "not so hard" or "not hard at all."
When asked about their plans after volcanic activity subsides, those saying they would return accounted for 75 percent of the respondents, or 13.5 percentage points less than in the previous survey. Those who responded that their return depends on the circumstances totaled 24.5 percent, or more than double the 11.5 percent registered in the previous poll. Only one ruled out the possibility of returning.