Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government approved a revised bill Tuesday that allows the Self-Defense Forces to evacuate foreign nationals in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency in a foreign country, even when there are no Japanese evacuees.
The bill comes after the SDF was dispatched to Afghanistan in late August to evacuate Japanese nationals following the takeover of the country by the Taliban. The SDF evacuated one Japanese national and 14 Afghan workers at the embassy and other organizations.
At present, the SDF law allows foreign nationals to be evacuated on planes when there are also Japanese nationals on board, but the revision will allow the SDF to evacuate non-Japanese even if that is not the case. The amendment also allows the SDF to use its transport planes, in contrast to the current law, which calls for the use of government aircraft.