Living conditions of people with disabilities after Japan’s earthquake

On 11 March 2011 there was a big earthquake in Japan. Life is more difficult for people with disabilities in Japan after the earthquake. Nagase Osamu is from Japan. He helped people with disabilities after the earthquake. He talked to a Committee of the United Nations. This Committee is a group that takes care of the rights of people with disabilities.

On 11-15 April the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) met in Geneva. Nagase Osamu, member of Inclusion Japan/International, was there to make a statement on the earthquake and nuclear plant breakdown that rattled Japan a month ago, leaving behind 27,000 people dead or missing.

Nagase had been serving as a volunteer in Miyagi, next to Fukushima, for the support center of persons with disabilities. The center was established by Japan Disability Forum, which is a national network of disability organizations in Japan, and includes many members of International Disability Alliance.

"In Miyagi, I could not believe my eyes when I visited the coastal areas hit by the tsunami. The devastation is just beyond imagination and expression", he explained. He was struck by the determination of persons with disabilities, their family members, and supporters, to meet this challenge.

During his speech in front of the CRPD, he mentioned the stories of some of the people he met working as a volunteer. One of them was a mother whose daughter had an intellectual disability. She said that after the big earthquake 30 years ago, the public nursery was closed for days and her daughter had to stay at home for a long time. Now, the mother is a day-service provider and is determined to keep her center open. She resumed services on the following day of 12 March, when there was no electricity or gas, and provided food to the community.

Blind people needs also much more support, as their environment has been swept away by the earthquake and everything is new for them. Nagase met a retired coal miner in his late 80’s. He was blind, but at home he had the map and geography of the neighborhood in his head, so he could have some independence. After the disaster, his mental map is no more useful and he needs much more support from his family.

As a consequence of the earthquake, reasonable accommodation, community support services and accessibility for people with disabilities are lacking. There are so many episodes of courage and inclusion, but also of exclusion and discrimination. The disaster has made the existing inclusion and exclusion many times more obvious.

As a conclusion to his speech, Nagase Osamu pointed out that this disaster "has reminded us the importance of putting the CRPD into practice.  Not only article 11 on situations of risk and humanitarian emergency, article 9 on accessibility, article 19 on  living independently and being included in the community, and article 32 on international cooperation, to name a few, but the entire CRPD has to be put into practice. We hope the lessons we are learning can contribute to the work of this Committee".

After the devastating earthquake of Japan, Inclusion Japan established the Relief Headquarters for Persons with intellectual disabilities to provide essential support for the persons with intellectual disabilities.

Everyone will suffer from the consequences of the earthquake in Japan, but life will be even harder for people with disabilities and other sensible groups. It is necessary to make sure that they are not going to be left behind.You will find information on how you can help them on Inclusion Japan's website. You can also find updated news on action towards helping people with disabilities in Japan on the following link.

Inclusion Japan is a parent's organisation for people with disabilities and member of Inclusion International. The organisation was founded in 1952 and it currently represents the 47 Japanese administrative divisions and 9 government designated cities.