POINT OF VIEW/ Manabu Sasaki: Why do we shun victims of accidents abroad?

For victims of major public transport accidents and their devastated families, the physical and emotional wounds are deep and often indelible.

The prospect of having to wrestle airline, railway and other companies for compensation while also wrestling with overwhelming grief can be almost too much to bear.

It is a welcome development, then, that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has finally created a panel to look for better ways to support people in this situation.

As it stands, however, support will be limited to victims of accidents within Japan only. The logic for this decision is highly questionable.

It is certainly a positive move by the government to give a voice to victims for the first time; the panel includes a family member of a passenger who died in the 1985 Japan Airlines Flight 123 crash that claimed 520 lives.

In the wake of catastrophic accidents, survivors and bereaved family members often have no idea where to turn for help or how to find accurate information about new developments.

Nonetheless, they are forced to endure their pain, pick themselves up and begin the long and arduous process of negotiating for compensation with people who are not always inclined to be friendly or helpful.

The new panel is an attempt to alleviate this burden.

"Twenty-four years after the accident, at long last, society is recognizing the plight of the victims," said Kuniko Miyajima, who lost her son in the 1985 JAL crash.

So why, then, should we draw an artificial distinction between victims of crashes here and abroad?

In October 2006, a bus carrying a group of 24 Japanese on a tour organized by the H.I.S. Co. travel agency overturned in central Turkey. One tourist died and two others were left in critical condition. The other 21 Japanese tourists suffered a range of injuries.

Families of the victims flew to Turkey, but could not get accurate information from the local police, administration and bus company because they were unfamiliar with the language.

While H.I.S. paid part of the medical bills and traveling expenses, its basic position was that "the accident was caused by the driver's negligence, so the travel agent bears no responsibility."

Several victims were furious about the size of the cash settlements they were offered, and accused the travel agent of shirking responsibility.

One woman in her 20s was in a coma for some time after the accident. She still requires medical treatment and has large scars on her hands and head. Her negotiations with H.I.S. have reached an impasse, and it has become virtually impossible to contact the local bus company.

The woman complained to the ministry's then tourism section (now the Japan Tourism Agency) in the hope the government would act as a go-between. But the ministry refused to help on the ground it was "a dispute between private parties."

With nowhere else to turn, the woman sued H.I.S. in June, but she does not expect a settlement anytime soon. "I'm under enormous mental strain," she said.

As many as 17 million Japanese travel abroad each year. When they are involved in tragic accidents, is it right to leave them to deal with the consequences as a matter of their own "personal responsibility"?

The ministry panel plans to consider support needs for victims, using the JAL crash and the 2005 derailment disaster on JR Takarazuka Line in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, as focal points. In these two cases, it was "easy to get the cooperation of survivors' groups," officials said.

But surely victims need more help in accidents involving small domestic or foreign companies that can't afford sufficient compensation, or accidents in countries where the language and laws are different, than they do in accidents involving JR and other major domestic companies.

Apparently the panel will spend two years studying this issue. That should be time enough to think seriously about a wider system of support to cover people equally in need of help.

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The author belongs to The Asahi Shimbun's City News Section.(IHT/Asahi: November 5,2009)