Japan considering troop dispatch to Sudan’s Darfur
July 6, 2007 (TOKYO) — Japan is mulling the possibility of dispatching the Self-Defence Forces to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region in line with the planned launch of full-fledged joint peacekeeping operations by the African Union and the United Nations, government sources revealed Friday.
The Japanese government has judged that it will be “inevitable for it to make personnel contributions including the SDF” in order for it to be able to lead discussions when it hosts next year’s Group of Eight summit as the conflict in Darfur has become a major issue for Europe, the United States and Africa, a Foreign Ministry source said.
But it could prove difficult to iron out differences within the government regarding the dispatch of SDF troops, with opinion in the Foreign Ministry divided. “It is hard to imagine the dispatch,” a senior official at the ministry said.
The Defence Ministry is taking a cautious stance, with one senior official saying, “The risk is high.”
Led by the Cabinet Office’s International Peace Cooperation Headquarters, the government started to gather and analyse information, and seek expert opinion late last month.
The conflict in Darfur has left over 200,000 people dead and more than two million displaced from their homes.
The Sudanese government agreed in mid-June to accept the peacekeeping operations, reversing its earlier resistance to a UN Security Council resolution adopted in August last year that called for a 200,000-strong peacekeeping force to support the African Union’s efforts to maintain peace in the region.
The Darfur conflict does not currently meet Japan’s five principles for taking part in peacekeeping operations overseas, especially the principle of “a cease-fire agreement by parties concerned.”
But some in the government believe that it would be possible for Japan to offer humanitarian support without a cease-fire agreement in Sudan, if Sudan and neighbouring Chad conclude a clear peace agreement by next March, when the joint peacekeeping force is expected to start full-fledged operations, the sources said.
(Kyodo)