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On January 25, DPJ Haiti Earthquake Needs Assessment Mission leader, Director General of the International Department Yukihisa Fujita, and Mission member Nobuhiko Suto visited the Prime Minister’s Office, where they reported on the conditions in Haiti to Prime Minister and DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama, as well as pointing out issues relating to the way in which Japan’s aid assistance is being carried out which had come to light as a result of their inspections and assessment on the ground.
The Aid Assessment Mission left Narita on the evening of January 18, and arrived in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on January 20. The Mission spent 2 days in Haiti, meeting with Haitian President René Préval and assessing the situation on the ground, before returning to Japan on January 24.
In the meeting with Hatoyama, Fujita first reported that in the meeting with President Préval he had conveyed a message of sympathy from the Prime Minister and explained the content of the Japanese government’s disaster assistance. He also said that Préval had expressed his expectations that the conference of donor nations held in Montreal on January 25 would be able to pinpoint the areas in which Haiti most required aid, as well as saying “I would like to express my appreciation for the aid we have received from Japan.”
Fujita went on to comment on the way in which aid was being provided by various countries in the wake of the earthquake and on international media coverage of the disaster, saying, “US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, as well as United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, visited the disaster zone soon after the earthquake occurred. Meanwhile, whether you tune into the BBC or CNN or CCTV they are reporting on the situation in Haiti 24 hours a day.” Fujita added, “The fact that more than 150 000 people have been confirmed dead makes this the worst ever death toll caused by an earthquake alone anywhere in the world.” He called on the Japanese government to carry out enhanced aid diplomacy. In response, Hatoyama expressed the opinion that he would like to develop Japan’s aid capabilities, emphasizing this would be one pillar of fraternal diplomacy, and asked Fujita and Suto to come again to make a more detailed report.
Fujita said that “Japan’s geographical distance” from the disaster zone had been cited as a reason for the delay in Japan’s response, but he said that the Chinese search and rescue team had been the fourth fastest to arrive at the scene and added that the United States had even supplied a hospital ship. He pointed out that Japan needed to ensure its emergency response teams are in a state of permanent readiness. Fujita commented that Haiti could be “an extremely significant place for the provision of aid” since it was likely to require “a gradual movement of aid provision from emergency aid, to reconstruction aid and then development aid.” In response, Hatoyama commented, “The provision of aid (to Haiti) will be important in view of its impact on relations with the United States and the United Nations also.” The Prime Minister also commented specifically that the US hospital boat is equivalent to the “fraternity boat” that he himself has been calling for Japan to dispatch to provide medical assistance in disasters and other eventualities, and said that Japan needs to strengthen its capabilities in this regard.
Fujita and Suto also questioned the manner in which Japan determined the dispatch of its search and rescue team, saying that the first 72 hours after the earthquake are the critical period that makes the difference between life and death, and that Japan should therefore draw up guidelines regarding the dispatch of such teams. Hatoyama replied by saying that he would like to carry out a review of the content of the aid provided by the Japan Disaster Relief Team. Fujita also pointed out that in view of the fact that on this occasion eight Japanese diplomats who had the responsibility of providing information on the disaster to Japan had also been affected by the disaster, it was necessary to consider the way in which Japanese diplomatic missions overseas are conducted in such an eventuality and to consider creating a back-up support system.
Moreover, Fujita reported that Haiti was a comparatively safe area for UN PKO activities, and expressed the opinion to the Prime Minister that in that sense it should be relatively easy to meet the conditions for the dispatch of SDF forces in this case.
Following the Prime Minister’s request, Fujita and Suto are scheduled to meet with Hatoyama again in the near future to furnish him with a more detailed report and engage in further discussion.
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