Withdrawal of GSDF from South Sudan to start in April

Juba, April 8 (Jonglei Times)-Ground Self-Defense Force members are expected to start their withdrawal from United Nations peacekeeping operations in South Sudan this month, the government sources said.

The first group is expected to return to Japan from mid to late April.

While continuing to rebuild roads in the African nation, GSDF members will be divided into three or four groups, which will return to Japan one by one until the last comes home no later than the end of May.
A team of about 50 additional officials of the GSDF or SDF headquarters are scheduled to be sent to South Sudan on April 10 to help with the withdrawal.

The team will organize the GSDF unit’s camp in Juba, the capital, pack devices to bring back to Japan, and make arrangements to transfer the ownership of some of the heavy equipment taken from Japan to South Sudan.

The approximately 350 members currently deployed there form the 11th Unit, responsible for peacekeeping. The majority of them belong to the 9th Division in Aomori.

Members of the 11th Unit were deployed to South Sudan between November and December 2016, and their work has entailed rebuilding roads and developing facilities for refugees.

The “kaketsuke-keigo” mission, which literally means “rushing (to distant places) to protect and rescue (people),” was first approved by the government in November 2016 based on national security legislation enacted in September 2015.

The government announced in March 2017 that it planned to end the GSDF members’ operations in South Sudan by around the end of May.

Meanwhile, the government will continue to deploy members at the house compound of United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) until the end of February 2018.

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