Proposal regarding affected people's right to housing and adequate livelihood support

 

10 May 2011

Human Rights Now

 

Based on the findings of legal consultation and investigation into the needs of affected peoples

 

1. Promotion of temporary housing

 

It has been about two months since the Great East Japan Earthquake. For those who lost their homes in the disaster, their ongoing and prolonged life as evacuees is exacerbating their fatigue. More and more people are damaging their health and suffering mental distress due to living a communal life with no privacy.

It is imperative to promptly ensure the right of the people affected by the disaster to live in houses, such as temporary homes. However, according to the announcement made by the Housing Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT), dated 9 May, only 6,982 temporary houses had been completed, and a further 29,244 were under construction, one month after the disaster. (http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000140307.pdf)


This does not meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people living as evacuees. Under the Disaster Relief Act and international human rights law, the government bears the primary responsibility to ensure the right to housing for people affected by the disaster.

Human Rights Now (HRN) requests that the central government implement the following:

•          Take all measures necessary to ensure that all of the disaster victims who are willing can move into temporary houses immediately.

•          Identify causes of delay in the construction of temporary houses and eradicate the causes.

Also, HRN requests that the central government and prefectural governments do the following:

In cases in which local governments are themselves greatly affected by the disaster and unable to sufficiently meet the need for rescue and temporary house construction, take effective measures to ensure the right to housing in various ways, such as by drastically expanding the support system through sending staff to local governments where construction has been delayed due to disaster damage.

 

2. Promotion of use of private housing

 

The central government issued circular notices to the three prefectural governments affected by the disaster that private-sector houses would be funded by the central government under the Disaster Relief Act. Under this scheme, local governments rent private-sector houses to provide to affected people in their region. After the disaster, the affected people then sign contracts to rent the properties themselves.

 (E.g. Circular notice 110430, issued by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, dated on 30 April)

On the notices issued by the central government, it states that a system has been established in which private-sector houses rented by affected people will be funded, to a certain extent, for two years by the central government, in the same way as rent is subsidised for temporary houses when those houses are recognized as temporary houses.


Whilst it was expected that many of the affected people would use the system, in reality it has not been well publicised to those in need. A large number of people still do not have definitive information or understand how to apply for the scheme, and thus do not have access to it.

HRN requests that, under the Disaster Relief Act, the prefectural governments affected by the disaster implement the following:

•          Approve subsidy for rents, deposits and key money for all applications from those affected by the disaster when they move into private-sector houses,

•          Provide all the affected people with thorough information on rent subsidy for private-sector houses,

•          
Provide a clear and easy-to-understand application process to qualify for the subsidy,

•          
Fulfill the housing needs of the affected people immediately by actively making use of the private-house system.

 

HRN further requests that the central government disseminate the abovementioned notices, which currently have not being well publicised to the affected people.

 

3. Support for evacuees living in locations far from their residence

 

Quite a few evacuees are living in temporary accommodation that is far from their own residence. Those people are not only isolated from their communities but also unable to receive various services, such as the provision of relief supplies except food and medical care. Furthermore, they are not provided with information about the support system. This situation is particularly serious for the elderly and the disabled who are forced to live in isolation from their communities without support. It is of extreme importance to provide both information and support under the Disaster Relief Act, such as full medical services.

 


HRN requests that the central government, prefectural governments and local governments take the following measure:

•          Provide both the appropriate information about support for affected people, and the necessary support under the Disaster Relief Act, such as aid delivery and medical services to evacuees living in temporary accommodation far from their residence.

 

4　Support after moving to temporary houses

 

From now on, the situation must be avoided in which people moved to temporary houses are forced to live in isolation from their communities without sufficient support and information.


Some people in evacuation centres are worried about the provision of temporary houses, and think they have no choice but to stay in evacuation centres because in temporary houses they might have difficulty even getting food.

As for the construction of temporary houses and the relocation of affected people, HRN requests that the central government and local governments do the following:

•          Promote the relocation of affected people to temporary houses with full respect for their communities,

•          Issue a circular notice that requires the continued provision of support, under the Disaster Relief Act, such as food, clothing and medical care, to affected people who move into temporary houses,

•          Establish a framework that provides an environment in which various services, including administrative services, access to the support system, information and medical care, sufficiently reach all the affected people.




5. Displacement from evacuation centres must be a last resort




Amidst their ongoing and prolonged life as evacuees, quite a few of the affected peoples have been forced to leave evacuation centres following the announcement that their centre will close. Relocation of affected people from place to place harms their mental and physical health, and therefore must be a last resort. It is an acceptable option only when there is a truly compelling reason, when enough time and opportunity for consultation with the affected people is guaranteed in advance, and when adequate accommodation is secured for them to move into. Unilateral demands for displacement amount to a violation of the right to housing guaranteed under international human rights treaties (International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights).

Thus, HRN requests that each local government avoids displacing evacuees as much as possible, and makes all adjustments necessary to accomplish the original purposes of the facilities being used as evacuation centres.

 

6 Full enforcement of the Disaster Relief Act and early distribution of relief money

 

Due to the fact that each evacuation centre and local government has been managing their evacuee situation differently for this prolonged period of over two months, disparities have emerged between evacuation centres in the supply of food, aid and quality of living environment. 


For instance, upon monitoring eleven evacuation centres in four prefectures, HRN found the following:

•      There is great disparity between the ways in which local governments are dealing with food supply. In the evacuation centres run by some local governments, residents are not guaranteed sufficient nutrition. If emergency rice provisions are reduced in the days ahead, the nutritional condition of residents in such places will deteriorate considerably.

•      Whilst private rooms are provided for accommodation in some evacuation centres, there are others in which only a small amount of space is provided and residents lay out their bedding in classrooms and cultural facilities. In some other evacuation centres, there is not even enough space for all the residents to fit in the available rooms, so people are forced to sleep in hallways without partitions. The disparity between such places is considerable. The central government bears a responsibility to guarantee the 'right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living' stipulated in Article 25 of the Constitution of Japan in an equal way to all the affected people. The same applies for their rights to food, health and housing under the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural rights. During their prolonged life as evacuees, the huge disparity in the conditions of the affected people and limited guarantee of their rights must be resolved immediately.

HRN requests that the central government and prefectural governments implement the following:

•      Investigate the conditions of each evacuation centre and monitor the application of the Disaster Relief Act in each evacuation centre,

•      Adequately guarantee the affected people's rights to food, health and housing by providing support to local governments if necessary,

•      Monitor the application of circulars and take measures to ensure the full enforcement of them rather than just issuing them.

 

Furthermore, the delayed distribution of cash makes it extremely difficult for the affected people to live independent lives when they have little prospect of getting new jobs and difficulty getting cash due to problems in inheritance procedures.

HRN requests that the central government, prefectural governments and all the relevant originations implement the following:

•      Distribute cash in accordance with the Disaster Relief Act,

•      Take all available measures to reform the current system which seriously delays the distribution of relief money, so that affected people can receive it as soon as possible.