Rescuers return to Britain as Hague defends embassy over permit

Willie McMartin, from the International Rescue Corps, told of his “sheer disbelief” that the British embassy refused to provide a covering letter confirming they were a genuine UK charity.

The document was needed to get a permit from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs so they could draw petrol that has been rationed.

Mr McMartin said the team, based at Grangemouth in Scotland, had been give permission by the Japanese embassy in London to join the emergency effort in the north of the country.

“The UK embassy in Tokyo refused to issue that letter, in spite of having talked to the Japanese embassy in London, because they said they would then become responsible for the team,” he told the BBC.

“We were not asking them to take responsibility. We simply needed a sheet of paper to say that we were a genuine, bona fide, UK-based organisation.

“It is sheer disbelief that we got to Tokyo, that we were told that we would get the document provided we get a one-sheet letter from the embassy, and they refused it.”

The 15 volunteers, who were going to focus on humanitarian rather than search-and-rescue work, arrived in Tokyo on Monday night and caught a flight home at 1pm local time on Wednesday. They donated their food and medical supplies to the Salvation Army working in the country.

The Foreign Office said: “The British Government has the greatest respect for the work the International Rescue Corps does in disasters around the world. The misunderstanding about their attempt to join the Japanese earthquake and tsunami response is therefore most unfortunate.

“British Embassy staff made contact with the International Rescue Corps team when they arrived in Tokyo.

“We sent a letter of support to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs early on the morning of 16 March at the request of the Japanese. Our staff followed this up with phone calls to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“As is usual in international humanitarian responses, it is right that the Japanese Government remains in control of the situation and decides which search and rescue operations to support.

“On arrival in Japan, IRC did not have the necessary transport and translation support in place. The British Embassy in Tokyo provided support to the IRC, but the final decision about what role they could play in the rescue effort was made by the Japanese authorities.”

Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said he would look into what had happened but Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee it was “convenient to blame embassies for difficulties which have arisen in other ways”.