MANILA, Philippines – In amid of
the issue between Filipino peacekeepers and UN
Commander Lieutenant
General Iqbal Singha, Philippines requesting a review of the peacekeeping mission of the
United Nations in view of recent threats to multinational peacekeepers,
including Filipino troops.
The review is contained in a
letter sent by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario to UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon.
The two is scheduled for a meeting
in New York later this September to discuss the Philippine proposal.
“The recent experience in the
Golan Heights presents an opportunity for the global community to again work
together on the challenge of fashioning a response to serious threats facing UN
peacekeeping,” Del Rosario said in his letter.
“The Philippines strongly proposes
discussions aimed at revisiting operational and tactical issues, including UN
command and control vis-à-vis safety and security of peacekeepers during
kidnapping and siege incidents, accountability of UN peacekeeping mission
leaders on decisions made during crisis operations as well as multidimensional
contingent plans and procedures to address similar situations,” he said.
Del Rosario said “the Philippines
looks forward to working closely with the UN secretariat in resolving these
issues.”
Del Rosario stressed out the
threats that Filipino and other UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights between
the boundaries of Syria and Israel have had to assert with armed groups.
“This threat was clearly not envisioned in the
mandate and parameters of UNDOF (UN Disengagement Observer Force), and quite
frankly we all had to struggle to meet the demands of this challenge,” he
stated in his letter.
