EDITORIAL: SDF dispatch to Haiti

The government decided Monday to send the Self-Defense Forces to earthquake-devastated Haiti to participate in a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

The aim of the SDF dispatch is humanitarian reconstruction. About 300 Ground Self-Defense Force personnel, mostly from engineer brigades, will join the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which has been active in the country since before the quake.

The remains of more than 150,000 people have been buried. About 2 million people have lost their homes. Damage reports filed from Haiti are mind-boggling. Nearly a fortnight has passed since the catastrophe, but food aid has yet to reach some areas.

Tents and tarps are in short supply, and up to half a million survivors are said to be without shelter.

Japan did not exactly rush to the rescue in the immediate aftermath of the quake. But the real work is about to begin.

"There is work to be done to clear the debris and build homes," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama noted. There can never be enough manpower for disaster responses and post-disaster reconstruction. The GSDF personnel will likely be assigned to building camps or shelters for the survivors. We hope the Japanese government will swiftly come up with concrete plans to expedite the dispatch.

The original purpose of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti was to stabilize and democratize the troubled nation. But because the local law enforcement system was effectively nonfunctional, the U.N. peacekeepers have even had to crack down on slum gangsters who were running an kidnapping racket.

The quake destroyed the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission and killed many personnel. But by joining forces with arriving contingents, mostly from Brazil and other Latin American countries, the peacekeepers continued their search, rescue and policing operations. The U.N. peacekeeping force is now more than 10,000 strong, consisting of 7,000 soldiers, 2,000 law enforcement officers, and some civilians.

The U.N. Security Council last week unanimously approved a resolution to dispatch an additional 2,000 troops and 1,500 police officers to Haiti in the belief that the extra numbers would be indispensable for continued relief activities in the days to come. Japan responded with the decision to send the GSDF.

Japan's first dispatch of SDF troops for a U.N. peacekeeping mission was in 1992 to Cambodia. But after the troops left East Timor in 2004, no full SDF unit has been dispatched abroad for peacekeeping missions.

Only 39 SDF personnel are currently on U.N. peacekeeping missions, including one in the Golan Heights. The number does look small, and Japan is actually 85th in the world in terms of participation in U.N. peacekeeping missions.

Any SDF participation must meet five conditions, including approval by the country where the U.N. mission takes place. The dispatch to Haiti meets all the conditions, and the situation there is different from those with armed conflicts.

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 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.

Rebuilding a country where half the population is indigent requires long-term international support. The GSDF's participation in the U.N. peacekeeping mission is only the first step.

Japan has pledged about $70 million (6.3 billion yen) in aid. There must be things only Japan can think of doing as an earthquake-prone nation.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 27