Japan: Illegal to Send MSDF to Somalia

The Liberal Democratic and Komai parties on January 22 held an anti-piracy project team meeting and agreed on sending Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to the sea off Somalia in Africa as early as March.

The government is trying to justify the MSDF deployment to the region under Article 82 of the SDF Law. However, this is a provision concerning sea patrol and cannot be applied to the Somalia mission.

Maritime patrol is an action to be carried out in Japanese territorial waters or in the seas near Japan.

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