UN urged to ensure safety of peacekeepers

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has urged the United Nations Security Council to exert all efforts in protecting its peacekeeping forces.

Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Libran Cabactulan sent a letter to the Security Council asking for more protection and safety for the Filipino peacekeeping contingent.

He expressed Manila’s “grave concern” over the seizure of 21 Filipino UN peacekeepers taken hostage by Syrian rebels last March 6.

Cabactulan also urged the UN Security Council to exert its influence on all parties in the Syrian conflict to ensure the Filipino peacekeepers’ freedom of movement.

“The members of the Council... wield considerable influence over the parties in the region. Our communication to the Security Council is meant to highlight this vital role of the Security Council,” Cabactulan said.

About 300 Filipinos serve in the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which has been in the Golan Heights since 1974, monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel.

The UNDOF force of fewer than 1,000 also include troops from Austria and India.

Twenty-one of the Filipinos were held for three days earlier in the month by Syrian rebels who demanded a pullback by Syrian government forces in the area. The unit was later freed unharmed.

The Philippine government announced last week that it would keep its UN contingent in the Golan Heights following the incident.

Cabactulan also called on the Security Council to “ensure that a mechanism is in place that guarantees open, active, and transparent dialogue between Troop Contributing Countries and the Security Council” in the event similar incidents involving peacekeepers occur.

He said coordination and dialogue between the Security Council and countries contributing troops are of “utmost importance” given the stakes involved in peacekeeping operations, particularly in the Golan Heights.

“We are hopeful that this call of the Philippines – redounding as it does to the benefit of all troop contributing countries and to the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions – will be received positively and acted on by the Security Council. We are ready to work with other stakeholders to pursue this initiative,” Cabactulan said.