ブックタイトルRecommendations to prepare for future mega-disasters in Japan

概要

Recommendations to prepare for future mega-disasters in Japan

Proposed Outline of the‘Basic Policy’(General Statement)・The Government of Japan will establish a mechanism with a view to promotediplomatic relations and to supplement domestic response efforts, thereby ensuringthat international assistance is utilised as effectively as possible.・A comprehensive disaster management body of the central government - such as theEmergency Disaster Response Headquarters - will make centralised decisions onwhether or not it receives offers of international assistance. Following instructionsfrom the comprehensive disaster management body, the Cabinet Office willcoordinate with disaster-affected communities.(Particular Statement)・If a disaster overwhelms Japan’s own response capacity, the Government of Japanwill request international assistance as needed. Even if international assistance is notnecessarily required and the Government will not make an explicit request as such,the Government of Japan will still welcome offers of international assistance withoutdeclining the offers entirely. The Government of Japan will also communicate itsstance clearly that financial assistance is always appreciated and immediatelyannounce its organisational arrangement for receiving financial assistance funds aswell as their usage (e.g. cash transfers to the populations and municipalities affectedby the disaster).・The Government of Japan will accept international search and rescue teams if asignificant number of buildings and urban infrastructures are collapsed, with theprecondition that the Government of Japan will take full responsibilities so as toavoid burdens on affected local authorities. However, the issue of potential liabilityfor compensations associated with the acceptance of international search and rescueteams must be clarified (See below). In other circumstances such as tsunamis, theGovernment of Japan will inform the international search and rescue teams, inadvance, of the possibility that they will be mainly tasked to search victims’remains.The Government of Japan will examine the capacity of the search and rescue teamsby using the UN standard system for their capacity assessment as much as possible,and request that the teams should be essentially limited to those classified as‘heavyteams’by INSARAG 14 - i.e. the teams from the U.S., U.K., Germany, France,Switzerland, China, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Australia, and etc. The Governmentof Japan will further request that the teams, which are not qualified as the heavyclass yet particularly willing to deploy, should operate under the supervision of aheavy team. Furthermore, the Government of Japan will make appropriate decisions,bearing in mind that confirming the detailed needs on the ground might lead tomissing the appropriate timing for saving lives, but also that unprepared acceptanceof the international teams could cause significant burden on the affected localauthorities.・The Government of Japan will consider the possibility to receive foreign armed forcesas the last resort if its civilian capacity alone will not be able meet the needs. In thiscase, the Government of Japan will take into account its diplomatic relations andcomply with the Oslo Guidelines and other internationally established rules and1 4 The INSARAG heavy teams are the urban search and rescue (USAR) teams recognised by the UN that they hashave the capacity and equipment qualified for international deployment. More than 40 teams from around theworld have been classified as‘heavy teams.’13