Treatment of evacuees requests to move varies a lot

March 13, 2015

Local gov'ts differ sharply over evacuees' requests to move house

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150313p2a00m0na006000c.html

Tokyo and four other prefectures deal differently with requests from evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear disaster to move house from their free temporary housing, according to data obtained by the Mainichi Shimbun through freedom of information requests.

Tokyo and nearby Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures have approved of six to 10 cases while Niigata Prefecture has sanctioned as many as 130 cases. Although evacuees are being forced to stay longer in Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Niigata and Yamagata prefectures as well as other prefectures due to the lingering nuclear accident, the central government does not allow them to move house except for those returning to Fukushima. These local governments address exceptional cases differently, breeding distrust among evacuees.

There are no regulations for moving house from private and public housing leased by the central government for evacuees of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster. The central government made it clear in May 2012 that it is offering free temporary housing to evacuees and won't permit them to move house, except for unavoidable cases unless they move into permanent housing. But the central government allows evacuees from Fukushima to move into empty units inside temporary housing complexes there as part of a campaign to encourage former Fukushima residents to return to their hometowns.

By way of freedom of information requests, the Mainichi obtained documents on bilateral consultations between Fukushima Prefecture and Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures. The Fukushima Prefectural Government says the issue of moving house is at the discretion of local bodies hosting evacuees. But the Disaster Relief Act defines the governors of disaster-hit prefectures as providers of temporary housing, and it has become a custom for evacuee-accommodating local governments to negotiate with Fukushima Prefecture.

According to information and other data obtained by the Mainichi, in September 2012 Yamagata Prefecture announced standards for exceptionally approving of moving house. It cited 1) health conditions, 2) landlords' wishes, 3) increasing numbers of family members and 4) significant disadvantages and dangers due to remaining in temporary housing and announced plans to approve of moving house after consultations with Fukushima. In January 2013, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government also set similar standards except for an expansion of family members.

But Tokyo and the four other prefectures operate very differently. For example, Yamagata Prefecture actively authorizes evacuees to move house if evacuees have trouble with neighbors by sending documents on the wishes of landlords and medical certificates to Fukushima Prefecture. At present, Yamagata even allows evacuees to move house if reasons such as landlords' wishes and health conditions are verified, without consulting Fukushima Prefecture. Many details of documents on requests from evacuees living in Tokyo are classified, but the Tokyo Metropolitan Government consults with Fukushima only if evacuees' requests to move house meet the standards.

Saitama Prefecture in principle consults with Fukushima Prefecture upon request from evacuees and leaves a decision up to the latter. Niigata Prefecture makes decisions along Fukushima's line of thinking but does not check with Fukushima in many cases in which it approves of evacuees' requests to move house. It consulted with Fukushima over only six cases in which it hesitated what to do. It's not clear why there are many cases in which Niigata approved of evacuees' requests to move house. Kanagawa approved of six cases, including four involving landlords' wishes, and checked with Fukushima about the remaining two cases.

The National Governors' Association and Yamagata Prefecture have urged the central government to flexibly deal with evacuees' requests to move house. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations submitted a written opinion to the central government in July last year calling for the government to approve of evacuees' requests to move house more flexibly.