ASEAN Social Culture Community

ASEAN discusses humanitarian assistance options : The 10 member countries of ASEAN drafted Tuesday a concept paper for a joint coordinating committee (JCC) to overcome natural disasters by using military assets and capacities for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR).

“We are drafting a concept paper on a JCC to manage and coordinate the use of military assets and capacities for HADR in ASEAN,” Indonesian Defense Ministry’s director general of defense force Rear Adm. Moch. Jurianto told reporters.

He was speaking after opening the second workshop on the establishment of an ASEAN military joint coordinating meeting on the use of ASEAN military assets and capacities in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in Jakarta.

Jurianto said the workshop would discuss various aspects of the joint coordinating committee, including main tasks and functions, organizational structure, jurisdiction limitations and responsibilities.

“We will also discuss where the committee will be located,” he said.

Jurianto added that results from the workshop would then be taken to the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials Meeting (ADSOM) for finalization before being forwarded to the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM).

The ADSOM is slated to be held in Yogyakarta from April 26 to 30 while the ADMM will be in Jakarta from May 17 to 21.

Jurianto emphasized that the HADR was actually in the civilian domain and the military was only supporting it by providing its assets and capacities as well as coordination to get the best results.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Srisaran Dhiradhamrong, adviser at the Office of the Permanent Secretary of Defense at the Thai Defense Ministry, said there were a number of problems in coordinating HADR activities between the military and civilians.

“There are several existing problems in cooperating and coordinating with civilians. We are trying to improve civil-military relations,” she said.

When asked whether ASEAN would have a rapid deployment force for a disaster, she said it would depend on each member country.

“We in Thailand have a disaster center combining all three services for in-country and outside missions,” Srisaran said.

“However, such deployment will have to be at the request of the host nation.”

Giving an example, she said that after the earthquake in West Sumatra, the Indonesian Defense Ministry contacted the Thai military attaché at the Thai Embassy to request assistance.

Simultaneously with the workshop, the Indonesian Military (TNI) hosted meetings for intelligence and operations officers as well as the ASEAN Chiefs of Defense Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM).