Japan Press Weekly

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2016 July 27 - August 2 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Mass murder of disabled sheds light on inadequate welfare policies: welfare facility operator

The terrible stabbing mass murders of disabled patients at a facility have caused welfare-related organizations to voice the concern that behind this incident is the country’s inadequate welfare system for disabled people.

The mass murders were committed on July 26. Before dawn on this day, a 26-year-old man armed with knives broke into a facility for the mentally disabled in Kanagawa’s Sagamihara City, killing 19 people and injuring 26 others.

Takahashi Takao, who operates a facility for the disabled in Saitama Prefecture, pointed out that this disastrous incident is causally related to the fact that many welfare facilities are suffering from chronic staff shortages due to the harsh working conditions, which leads to a decline in quality of welfare workers hired.

The murder suspect, who used to work at the facility in question, reportedly said to police, “It is useless to keep severely disabled persons alive.”

Takahashi said that seriously disabled people express their intentions by moving their eyes and hands. “If a staff member cannot read their thoughts only by their gestures, he/she will come to consider them to be ‘worthless’,” he added.

The facility operator referred to the fact that the government of Nazi Germany claimed that using taxpayer money for the disabled is “wasteful” and that former Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro remarked that he wonders if disabled persons have their own personalities. Noting that the suspect’s thought is remarkably similar to that of the Nazis and Ishihara, Takahashi said, “Such an intolerant atmosphere is now spreading in Japanese society.”

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Japanese Communist Party members of the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly on July 27 issued a statement asserting that the JCP will make its utmost efforts to improve welfare programs for the disabled and to create a society and government which work to protect them.

The statement also demands that prefectural authorities investigate the case thoroughly and implement prevention measures without delay.

Past related article:
> Abe’s welfare policies drive the needy to death [June 10, 2016]