Japan’s Self-Defense Forces make their first overseas rescue mission, arriving in Indonesian Borneo to help put out forest fires

Indonesia has recently been hit by severe forest fires, and the toxic haze has spread to surrounding countries, even reaching the Philippines, 800 kilometers away. On Thursday (10th), the Japanese Self-Defense Force dispatched an amphibious transport ship and 300 officers and soldiers to Borneo Island to launch the first overseas fire-fighting and rescue mission in the history of the Self-Defense Force.

According to the "Associated Press" report, the Japanese Self-Defense Force dispatched the "JS Kunisaki" transport ship and three CH-47 "Chinook" heavy-lift helicopters to the Mempawah port in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Colonel Junji Nakahara, commander of the rescue operation, said that Japan will learn from the Indonesian military’s actual combat experience and cooperate closely to ensure that the local people can return to a stable life as soon as possible. This mission also highlights the growing military cooperation between Japan and India in recent years. The two sides are currently negotiating on the sale of second-hand destroyers by Japan.

Indonesia has been facing frequent forest and land fires for decades. This year, due to the strong El Niño phenomenon and the intensification of long-term drought, the disaster situation is particularly severe. According to statistics from the Indonesian Forestry Ministry, more than 202,000 hectares of land were burned from January to July this year, an area nearly three times the size of Singapore. Toxic haze from the fires spread more than 800 kilometers to the Philippines. The Malaysian state of Sarawak declared a state of emergency last week because air pollution exceeded the emergency threshold. Schools in many places on Sumatra were also forced to suspend classes, affecting more than 1.4 million students.

In response to the disaster, three Chinook helicopters of the Japan Self-Defense Force were immediately deployed to fight the fire in the air after preparations were completed, helping the Indonesian authorities penetrate into remote fire scenes that were difficult for ground rescue teams to reach. At present, the United States, Russia, Australia, Canada, Ukraine and Southeast Asian countries have all sent aircraft to support Indonesia's fire-fighting operations and jointly contain the spread of transnational haze.