Japan Brief/FPCJ, No. 0984
February 1, 2010


Government Decides to Dispatch SDF Units
to PKO Mission in Haiti to Assist Reconstruction Work

The government has decided to dispatch Self-Defense Force personnel to a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Haiti to assist reconstruction work in that Caribbean island country, which suffered devastating damage from a powerful earthquake recently. Based on the International Peace Cooperation Law, the government on January 29 announced that it would dispatch a Ground Self-Defense Force mission of about 350 members, including 190 members from civil engineering units and support personnel, in response to a request from the United Nations Security Council for the dispatch of more personnel to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). This will be the seventh time for the SDF to be dispatched overseas to a peacekeeping operation, the first having been to Cambodia in 1992. It is the first time in eight years for Ground Self-Defense Force personnel to be sent overseas, following a mission to East Timor in 2002. In addition, on January 25 State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Koichi Takemasa, who was attending the Ministerial Conference on Haiti in Montreal, announced that the Japanese government would provide assistance worth approximately US$70 million (approximately 6.3 billion yen) for Haiti.

About 350 SDF Personnel to Be Sent to Haiti to Assist Reconstruction Work

The magnitude-7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti in the afternoon of January 12 (the morning of January 13 Japan time) reportedly resulted in more than 150,000 deaths and left as many as three million people in need of emergency aid; the capital city of Port-au-Prince and its surroundings suffered catastrophic damage. A medical team from the SDF is already operating in Haiti, continuing the activities of the Japan Disaster Relief Team. The GSDF civil engineering units will be involved in clearing away debris and repairing roads and other infrastructure; they will not be engaged in law-enforcement activities. According to media reports, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told the press on the evening of January 25, “We thought about what Japan can do and, with the understanding of the Social Democratic Party and the People’s New Party [the Democratic Party of Japan’s junior coalition partners in the present government], decided to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces as quickly as possible. Their job will be to clear away the rubble and build houses and such things. It is civil engineers that are required most of all.”

MINUSTAH was established in 2004, and about 9,000 personnel are dispatched to the mission from various countries. On January 19 the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution calling for 3,500 extra personnel. At present only 39 SDF personnel are participating in UN peacekeeping missions, including one in the Golan Heights, and indeed Japan ranks as low as eighty-fifth in the world in terms of participation in such missions. Participation by whole units has been suspended since dispatches to East Timor in 2002–4. The 350-member dispatch to Haiti will be the largest following East Timor (about 680 personnel) and Cambodia (about 600 personnel). After consultations with the United Nations concerning specific activities, areas of deployment and so on, the government plans to have the cabinet decide on an implementation program in early February so that the units can be dispatched in the middle of the month. As well as heavy machinery such as bulldozers, the dispatched personnel will be equipped with handguns and rifles for self-protection. They are expected to be active in Haiti for about six months.

According to media reports, at a regular press conference on January 26 Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsuya Okada said of the significance of the SDF’s dispatch to the peacekeeping operation in Haiti, “Assistance for reconstruction is urgently required following the terrible damage caused by the earthquake, so we will provide such aid in the form of a PKO mission. It is only natural that Japan must help.” Speaking in the House of Councillors Budget Committee on January 27, Prime Minister Hatoyama explained that since there was no military conflict in Haiti, the SDF dispatch did not violate the five principles of the International Peace Cooperation Law, including the existence of a ceasefire agreement and other conditions. He said, “The five principles of the International Peace Cooperation Law are being maintained. There is some social confusion in Haiti following the earthquake, but it is not a military conflict.”

Major Newspaper Editorials

Four of Japan’s five major newspapers (with the exception of The Nikkei) carried editorials on the assistance to Haiti. The Yomiuri Shimbun editorial (January 26) stated, “The international community as a whole must reconstruct Haiti, where state functions have been paralyzed and the country has been plunged into a semi-anarchic situation.” It went on, “There are many issues to be tackled in Haiti, including distribution and rationing, construction of the communications network, and the ensuring of public security. We hope that the government will cooperate with the United Nations and other countries and carry out assistance in an efficient manner.” The Yomiuri also commented, “As well as assistance for the earthquake damage, it is necessary for the international community to provide development aid from a medium- and long-term perspective so that Haiti can become independent.” It added, “It is also necessary for Japan to tackle the issue of assisting Haiti’s reconstruction tenaciously.”

The Asahi Shimbun editorial (January 27) suggested, “While it is vital that the strictest rules be set for the use of weapons, the SDF cannot conduct any humanitarian work if the government is reluctant to send troops due to poor security. NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] and private aid groups are already working in Haiti. If local circumstances permit, we see no reason not to consider sending police officers and civilians as well.” It continued, “Rebuilding a country where half the population is indigent requires long-term international support. The GSDF’s participation in the UN peacekeeping mission is only the first step.” The Asahi concluded, “There must be things only Japan, as an earthquake-prone nation, can think of doing.”

The Mainichi Shimbun editorial (January 27) commented positively on the SDF’s PKO dispatch, stating, “They will be involved in humanitarian rehabilitation, which is Japan’s strong point. We welcome the government’s decision.” Analyzing the background to the Hatoyama administration’s quick decision to dispatch the SDF, it noted that “Many members of the Democratic Party of Japan are positive about participating in UN-led international contribution operations,” “In view of the withdrawal of the SDF from the Indian Ocean, the government probably aimed to impress the international community with Japan’s contribution of personnel,” and “The government appears to think that active engagement in the reconstruction of Haiti will help to improve relations between Japan and the United States, which have been strained by such problems as the relocation of the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa.”

The Sankei Shimbun editorial (January 27) said of the SDF dispatch that “We hope the SDF can utilize the experience it accumulated in deployment at the time of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake [in 1995].” It also noted, “One background factor is the Democratic Party of Japan’s essentially positive attitude toward UN peacekeeping operations” and “In last year’s general election the DPJ pledged in its manifesto that it would ‘play a proactive role in UN peacekeeping operations.’ Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada . . . has also shown a positive stance toward promoting the participation of the Self-Defense Forces in UN peacekeeping operations.” Following on from cooperation with the PKO in Haiti, the Sankei called for the enactment of a “permanent law for the overseas dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces in response to whatever situation.”

(Copyright 2010 Foreign Press Center, Japan)

*Japan Brief is an original production of the Foreign Press Center, Japan, and does not represent the views of the Government of Japan or of any other body.


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