MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is seeking a review of the peacekeeping mission of the United Nations in view of recent threats to multinational peacekeepers, including Filipino troops.
The call is contained in a letter sent last week by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Del Rosario is scheduled to meet with Ban in New York later this month 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 to the UN official.
“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.
“The Philippines looks forward to working closely with the UN secretariat in resolving these issues,” he said.
The foreign affairs chief stressed that UN peacekeeping “is a constantly evolving process.”
“The Philippines recalls the decision of the UN in 2000 to analyze its peacekeeping experience and introduce a series of reforms to strengthen its capacity to manage and sustain field operations,” he added.
Del Rosario pointed out that in recent months, Filipino and other UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights between the boundaries of Syria and Israel have had to contend 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 wrote Ban.
“Despite having to endure hostage taking and other harmful incidents, the Philippine contingent remained committed with UNDOF while other troop-contributing countries had opted to withdraw,” he said.
He justified the decision of Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights to fight Syrian rebels who surrounded them and to defy orders from UNDOF commander Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singh Singha to surrender.
He said the troops chose not to surrender given the fact that the Fijian soldiers who had earlier opted to lay down their arms were taken instead by the Syrian rebels.
He said while the Philippine contingent recognized the authority of the UNDOF chief over all peacekeepers, it was “important to take into consideration the realities of the situation as well as Lt. Gen. Singha’s competency in dealing with crisis operations.”
“By retaining their arms, the Philippine troops had maintained a minimum defense posture against confirmed hostile forces while bearing in mind the principles of the approved UNDOF rules of engagement (ROE),” he stressed.
He pointed out that the ROE recognize the “inherent right (of peacekeepers) to defend themselves from hostile threats.”