The government is teaching police personnel French and Arabic as well as training them about the cultures and customs in African countries before sending them for international peacekeeping missions. “As per the UN’s requirement, we are training our police personnel to increase their efficiency during deployment as peacekeepers abroad,” state minister for home affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku said on Thursday.
The minister had visited the UN headquarters last week.
“Senior UN officials informed us that they have decided to reduce the number of peacekeepers due to shortage of funds. This means that Bangladeshi peacekeepers have to learn the required languages and other activities to compete with their counterparts from other countries,” Tuku said.
“But, the UN officials also said the Bangladeshis were more efficient and competitive than other peacekeepers. They have agreed to appoint more senior police officers, both men and women, from Bangladesh for peacekeeping missions abroad,” he added.
Participation of Bangladeshi women in UN peacekeeping missions has received immense appreciation. A total of 136 female officers and 414 policewomen from Bangladesh are serving as UN peacekeepers.
At least 1,900 police personnel from Bangladesh are deployed in six African countries – Ivory Coast, Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Liberia.So far, 11,631 Bangladeshi police personnel have successfully served in 19 peace-keeping missions.
At present, the UN is engaged in 15 peacekeeping operations and one special political mission, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The latter is led by the world body’s department of peacekeeping operations (DPO).
As many as 8,936 Bangladeshi peacekeepers are currently serving in eight UN peacekeeping missions in Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sudan, DR Congo, Western Sahara, Lebanon, Haiti, and Darfur (South Sudan).
Personnel from the Bangladeshi armed forces also contribute to the UN missions. A total of 118,985 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have served in 47 countries for 47 peacekeeping missions till date.Bangladeshi peacekeepers joined the UN peacekeeping operation for the first time in 1988. Its contribution then was a modest team of 31 officers, who formed part of the UN Iraq-Iran military observer group in Iraq. Since then, Bangladesh has become the largest and the most respected contributor to UN peacekeeping efforts.In the past 25 years, Bangladesh has earned over Tk. 5,000 crore by sending out over 112,807 soldiers, nearly half the total troops in the Bangladesh Army.Bangladesh has lost 110 peacekeepers from the police and armed forces. As many as 63 soldiers, including 15 officers, were killed in a tragic plane accident in the central African state of Benin in December 2003.
-with The Independent input
