Press Release: FOIA request sent to Dutch and British militaries regarding their training in U.S. military's Northern Training Area
On November 27, 2024, the Okinawa Environmental Justice Project (OEJP) sent a Freedom of Information Request letter to the Dutch and British militaries regarding their reported joint training with the U.S. military at the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area (NTA) in 2022 and 2024, under the Freedom of Information Act of both countries. OEJP requested information on any environmental sensitivity training that both countries’ armed service members underwent prior to their time at the NTA and on any environmental conservation measures that the members took during their time at the NTA. The NTA is located immediately adjacent to the “Northern Part of Okinawa Island,” inscribed as UNESCO Natural World Heritage in July 2021, and the Japanese government considers the NTA an “important de-fact buffer zone.”
OEJP is currently collecting information on the impact of the U.S. military’s training on the World Heritage Site (Northern Part of Okinawa Island) and the surrounding Yambaru Forest area, as well as information on the U.S. military’s waste within the World Heritage Site, based on Article 174 of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. The OEJP’s information requests to the Dutch and British militaries are part of this information-collecting effort. The information collected from both militaries will be included in a report, which will be submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and its advisory body, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in early 2025.
The Freedom of Information request letters will be forwarded to the ambassadors of both countries in Japan, the relevant ministers, and the director generals of the UNESCO National Commission, requesting that they urge their respective militaries to disclose information.
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| FOIA request letters |
