住民の集団避難 共同体を全力で守ろう

(Mainichi Japan) April 5, 2011
Protection of communities must take priority in quake restoration efforts
社説：住民の集団避難　共同体を全力で守ろう

An evacuation order affecting residents near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant looks likely to be prolonged. Residents of the Miyagi Prefecture town of Minami-Sanriku, which was devastated by the March 11 tsunami, have also begun to move to other administrative districts to take shelter until temporary housing is completed in the town.
　福島第１原発の周辺で放射性物質漏れ被害から逃れるため居住地を集団で離れた住民の避難生活が長期化の様相をみせている。津波で大きな被害を受けた宮城県南三陸町も仮設住宅ができるまでの間、他自治体への集団避難を開始した。

The government should take all possible measures to ensure evacuated residents maintain their communities while they are taking shelter. Even in cases where residents in the same neighborhoods have been forced to flee to separate shelters, the central government needs to uphold residents' relations with their local governments and prevent them from being isolated.
　住民が避難前とできるだけ同じようなコミュニティーを維持しつつ生活できるよう、政府は手を尽くさねばならない。住民が離ればなれに避難せざるを得なかった場合も、故郷の自治体と関係を絶たず、孤立を防ぐ仕組みを検討すべきである。

Eight towns and villages situated around the quake- and tsunami-hit nuclear power plant are particularly threatened by radiation leaking from the power station. These municipalities have not only evacuated their residents or urged them to voluntarily flee their neighborhoods, but also temporarily relocated their municipal government headquarters to other administrative districts.
　原発の放射性物質漏れ事故の影響でとりわけ深刻な事態に直面しているのは周辺８町村だ。避難指示や自主避難で住民だけでなく、役場の機能までほかの自治体に移さざるを得ない状況となっている。

The Fukushima Prefecture town of Futaba, which is home to the nuclear plant, has shifted its municipal government headquarters, as well as many of its residents, three times: to the prefecture's town of Kawamata, to Saitama Super Arena and to the building of a now defunct high school in Kazo, Saitama Prefecture. The municipal government of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, has decided to collectively relocate its residents to Aizu-Wakamatsu in the same prefecture.
　第１原発がある双葉町の場合、多くの住民が役場の機能ごと同県川俣町、さいたまスーパーアリーナ、埼玉県加須市の旧県立高校と３度にわたり移転した。福島県大熊町は会津若松市への集団移転を進めている。

Residents of these areas were forced to flee their homes and take shelter in the wake of devastation caused by the massive March 11 killer quake and tsunami and the ongoing threat of radiation leaks from the nuclear plant. Their plight is immeasurable.
津波被害に追い打ちをかけるような原発事故で着の身着のまま避難し、移転生活を強いられている苦難は察してあまりある。

More than 1,300 residents of Futaba, who are taking shelter in Kazo, are aiming to maintain their communities. The national government has a responsibility to provide housing to these evacuees and take other steps to support their livelihoods and help them maintain their communities, as their time away from home is likely to be prolonged. In fact, it may be better to say that the responsibility lies on the entire nation.
　１３００人以上が移り住んだ加須市で双葉町民は従来のコミュニティーを維持しながらの生活を目指すという。集団移転した住民に対し、政府は避難が相当長期化する場合も念頭に置き、住宅確保をはじめとする生活の維持と共同体の存続に取り組む責任がある。それは、私たち国民の責務と言い換えてもいいはずだ。

The national government must eliminate vertically divided administrative functions and be prepared to support education, nursing care, medical services and employment for evacuees as a whole. The local governments of disaster-hit areas from which residents have been evacuated and those in areas where the evacuees are taking shelter need to fully cooperate with each other in ensuring that both groups of residents can get along with each other. The national government should also help lessen the burdens on the local governments, by assisting in the management of data on residents, for example.
　教育、医療、介護、雇用の確保などさまざまな分野でタテ割りにならぬよう、一体支援を展開する体制が必要だ。移転先の住民と融和しつつ生活をともにするには被災地、移転先両自治体の連携も欠かせない。住民データの管理など、役場機能の負担軽減策も導入すべきだ。

At the same time, questions remain as to how to maintain the connections between those who have fled their quake- and tsunami-ravaged neighborhoods on an individual basis and the local governments of their hometowns. The central government has not grasped how many residents from disaster-hit areas have fled to other areas. It is an urgent task for the national government to gather such information with the help of the local governments concerned.
　一方で、震災で個人や家族単位で他市町村に受け入れられた人をどう故郷の自治体とつなぐかも課題となる。それぞれの被災地から住民が他自治体にどう避難したか、現状では把握しきれていない。政府は移転先の自治体の協力を得て、情報収集を急がねばならない。

It is feared that some residents have lost contact with the local governments of their hometowns after shifting their resident registrations to areas where they are taking shelter, and cannot receive information on relief measures in their hometowns. The central government should implement measures to allow evacuees to receive administrative services from the authorities of the areas where they are taking shelter while maintaining their resident status in their hometown even if their time in shelter is prolonged.
　やむを得ず移転先に住民票を移した結果、旧住所の自治体と連絡が途絶え、救援情報が届かなくなる事態が懸念される。本人が希望すれば長期間であっても住民票を移さず、しかも移転先の行政サービスを受けられるような制度を工夫すべきだ。

Evacuees' resident registries will serve as important bonds with the local governments of their hometowns until they return and begin to restore their communities. The central government should regard the protection of the communities in quake- and tsunami-hit areas as the core of its disaster recovery efforts.
　住民がやがて舞い戻り、故郷の再建に取り組むまで、住民票は大事な「きずな」となる。政府は共同体の保護を震災の復興政策の一環と位置づけ、特に留意してほしい。

毎日新聞　2011年4月4日　2時31分