TOKYO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government said Thursday it will deploy Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) members to Egypt on a non-United Nations (UN) backed peacekeeping mission.
The move, the timing of which has yet to be decided, will mark the first such deployment of SDF members by Japan since its controversial security legislation came into effect in 2016.
According to Japan's top government spokesperson, two GSDF members will be deployed to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt to join the Multinational Force and Observers, a multinational peacekeeping force in Egypt that is not under the command of the United Nations.
In 2016, Japan's highly controversial security laws came into effect amid a staunch political, public and international backlash.
By way of bulldozing the required legislation through both chambers of Japan's bicameral parliament, the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, while ignoring calls from opposition parties for more debate on the controversial issue and against the will of the public, effectively forced the legislation into law.
The new law, which legal experts and constitutional scholars have maintained thwarts Japan's pacifist charter, has loosened the restrictions on Japan's Self-Defense Forces and allows for Japan to send troops overseas.
Japan's prime minister has, since entering politics, been a staunch proponent of amending Japan's pacifist constitution to further loosen the constraints on Japan's forces and allow them to increase their footprint in overseas theaters.
The issue of Abe's plans to amend the charter for the first time since World War II is a hot-button topic here, with opposition parties and the public largely opposed to changing the Supreme Law which has effectively guaranteed Japan peace and security since the end of the war.
The public's faith in the defense ministry here has also diminished since a number of cover-up scandals came to light, involving the concealing of controversial mission logs of the GSDF's past activities in South Sudan.
According to Japan's pacifist, war-renouncing constitution and in line with rules governing Japan's GSDF's role in UN peacekeeping missions, troops must be withdrawn from conflict zones if exchanges specifically described as "fighting" occur.
