Cambodia Preps Peacekeeper Deployment
Tuesday, 01 March 2016

Prime Minister HE told the United Nations that Cambodia is well equipped to send more peacekeepers on missions abroad if such a request is made.

Speaking at a commemorative ceremony in honor of 10 years of Cambodian peacekeeping achievements at the Peace Palace yesterday, Mr. HE said that the peacekeepers who have been deployed in other countries have represented Cambodia well.

Mr. HE said that Cambodia will continue to send more troops to other countries in support of the UN’s mission. He told Claire Van der Vaeren, resident coordinator of the UN Development Program to Cambodia, to inform Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, that Cambodia is ready to send more troops if the need arises.



“I would like to tell Her Excellency [Ms. Van der Vaeren] that I have big ambitions. At this moment, I am telling her that I plan to increase the sending of troops to outside countries,” Mr. HE said, adding that Cambodia can quickly organize troops to be sent abroad.

“Because friends helped us, I have to help friends as well. Even though Cambodia is poor, Cambodia is rich in spirit,” Mr. HE said.

Mr. HE urged all Cambodian peacekeepers to increase their skills and knowledge and enhance their grasps on foreign languages such as French and English in order to more easily communicate with other troops and citizens.

According to a report read by Telecommunications Minister Prak Sokhon, over the course of the past 10 years, four Cambodian peacekeepers were killed in action while five were injured. Cambodia has sent 3,557 peacekeepers abroad, including 118 women, since 2006. They have been sent to the Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus, Mali and Syria.

According to a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces’ National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces report, the center faces compensation challenges for their troops that have died or been injured during missions. Cambodian officials are discussing the situation with UN officials to find a solution to the problem.

Last week, Vietnamese officials requested Cambodian peacekeepers help train Vietnamese forces in preparation for additional training the Vietnamese military will receive from the United Nations.