Phnom Penh: Cambodia has deployed more peacekeepers for the United Nations peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic, Lebanon, and South Sudan. A solemn send-off ceremony for this latest contingent of Cambodian UN blue beret troops was held on Feb. 5 at the Ministry of National Defence. H.E. Tea Seiha, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, and Mr. Joseph Scheuer, the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Cambodia, presided over the event.

According to Agence Kampuchea Presse, the Deputy Prime Minister commended the peacekeepers’ dedication and readiness, contributing to building Cambodia’s reputation under the UN humanitarian missions. The Cambodian peacekeepers were from Multi-Role Engineering Unit 863, Unexploded Ordnance Disposal Unit 98, and Royal Gendarmeries Unit 872.

Since 2006, Cambodia has deployed a total of 9,563 peacekeepers, including 816 women, for 12 missions in ten countries: Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Lebanon, Cyprus, Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.