NAMIE, Fukushima Pref.: Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officials in charge of refugee affairs in the West Bank joined a training session on responding to disasters Tuesday in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, near the crippled nuclear power plant.

The training is aimed at helping the PLO officials acquire expertise on reconstruction from disasters to support Palestinian refugees.

The PLO officials were invited to attend the training by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which provides technical cooperation for the operation of refugee camps in the West Bank.

They toured Namie by bus and held talks with town officials on community development after the 2011 nuclear accident.

On Monday, they visited Higashimatsushima in neighboring Miyagi Prefecture and learned about debris disposal and disaster stockpiling.

One PLO official expressed an eagerness to use what he learned in the training for the reconstruction of Palestine.

Referring to the conflict in the Middle East, the official said that disasters and wars are different, but that the point that displaced people are created is the same.

The training session was initially scheduled to take place last year, but was postponed due to the war in Gaza.

JIJI Press