14,000 Lankan security forces personnel to UN Peacekeeping operations since 2000

The Government yesterday said that close to 14,000 army, navy, air force and police personnel from Sri Lanka have served in the UN Peacekeeping forces since 2000.

Chief Government Whip and Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has told the parliament that the Sri Lankan forces personnel have been the best armed forces personnel to have served in the UN Peacekeeping force. Gunawardena has made these comments in response to a question posed by UNP parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake.

Gunawardena has said that 12,210 army soldiers, 600 navy, 610 air force personnel and 572 policemen had served in the UN Peacekeeping forces since 2000.

As of end of July, a total of 1,190 forces personnel from Sri Lanka are serving in the UN Peacekeeping operations. The total includes 72 police and 9 Military Experts on Mission (MEM) and 1,109 troops. The majority of Sri Lanka’s troops is in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).  However, when compared to the contribution from other countries in the region, Sri Lanka’s contribution is low. There are 10,626 troops from Pakistan, 4,271 from Nepal, 8,423 from India and 10,654 from Bangladesh serving in the UN Peacekeeping forces currently.