Will vet SL soldiers similar to other countries: UN

20 July 2017 09:03 am

The United Nations has said that when selecting soldiers for the UN peacekeeping mission, it would vet Sri Lankan troops similar to soldiers from other countries, to ensure they were not involved in illegal activities in their home country.

In response to a question that the UN was still recruiting Sri Lankan troops to serve (the UN Multi-dimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission) in Mali despite some new findings by the UN that Sri Lanka's security forces were engaged in torture, Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General told a news briefing in New York “…Well, wherever we recruit soldiers from, in every country, we try to vet the incoming peacekeeping troops, to make sure that they're not involved in any such problems in their home country.”

“And, of course, we will do that sort of vetting for Sri Lankan troops as we do for any other country,” he said.

The spokesman said that UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, who arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday, would take up the latest allegation against the Sri Lankan security forces, with the Sri Lankan Government. (Sunil Jayasiri)