Fiji offers more than 500 troops to Golan force

AFP via GlobalPost ^ | June 18, 2013 20:33 | Agence France-Presse

[Pan_Yan]

Fiji has offered more than 500 troops to the UN Golan Heights peacekeeping force after several countries withdrew because of the spillover from the Syria conflict, diplomats said Tuesday.

Fiji will supply 170 troops this month to replace Japanese and Croatian soldiers who have left in previous weeks. Diplomats said it has also offered to replace the 370 troops that Austria is withdrawing.

...

Lyall Grant, UN Security Council president for June, said the UN Disengagement Observer Force would also get "some heavier weapons", extra body armor and see observation posts reinforced.

In the growing fallout from more than two years of Syrian war, UNDOF peacekeepers have been abducted and wounded by shelling in recent months. One UNDOF staffer from Canada has been held by abductors since February.

[Pan_Yan]

UNDOF Facts and Figures

Current authorization until 30 June 2013
Security Council resolution 2084 (2012) of 19 December 2012

Strength

Current (30 April 2013)

• 913 troops

• 40 international staff*
• 98 local civilian staff*

*Note: Statistics for international and local civilians are as of 28 February 2013

Country contributors of military personnel

Austria, India and Philippines

Fatalities

• 43 troops
• 1 international civilian
  _____
• 44 total

Financial aspects

• Method of financing: Assessment in respect of a Special Account
• Approved budget (1 July 2012 - 30 June 2013): $45,992,000 [A/C.5/66/18]

[JoeProBono]

[Ann Archy]

As God is my witness, I would NEVER have guessed that FIJI had an ARMY!!!

[rarestia]

They need to be careful not to send too many troops. The whole island might tip over!

[Pan_Yan]

I had to look it up. Fiji supplies UN Peacekeepers all over and apparently it's a substantial source of income for the island nation. IIRC three of their six battalions are stationed overseas.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I’m sure that Fiji has a crack military.

[Ann Archy]

LOL!!!!!! Shades of Representative Hank Johnson (D-Dumbass)!!

[Pan_Yan]

Don’t complain about Hank Johnson. It used to be Cynthia McKinney’s seat.

[Viennacon]

Of course they do. It gets weirder, as the military launched a coup to install president banana. Look it up.

[Bulwyf]

Look like strapping lads, I wonder how they think politically, it couldn’t hurt to accumulate some allies.

That being said, they are doing UN missions, so I’m not holding my breath.

[datura]

I served with them in Sinai back in the 80’s - some of the toughest troops I’ve ever encountered. They have an “Olympics” in Fiji to select their new recruits.

One of them that I remember was taking his vacation time to go to Beirut , as there weren’t enough firefights in Egypt for his tastes and was getting rusty.

Their hand-to-hand skills were excellent!

[Art in Idaho]

China Cements “Ties” With Fiji.

Trevor Loudon: "Fiji, only 1500 miles to the north of my country New Zealand, is now effectively, a Chinese client state."

[Grzegorz 246]

Major UN forces contributors are countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria etc. Poor countries, which simply make money that way.