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Filipino peacekeepers bear the brutal consequences of the “continued sale, flow and proliferation” of small arms and light weapons (SALWs) that find their way in the highly volatile countries where the volunteers are deployed by the United Nations.

These countries include Afghanistan, Cote d' Ivoire, Darfur, Georgia, Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia, Nepal, Sudan and Timor-Leste, where peace and order are presently maintained by the UN through more than 600 peacekeepers of mostly Filipino policemen and soldiers, according to Ambassador Hilario Davide of the Philippine mission to the United Nations in New York.

SALWs threaten the security of hundreds of Filipino peacekeepers deployed overseas, Davide said Wednesday at the United Nations. He renewed calls for the elimination of such weapons, seeing them as a constant threat to the lives of hardworking peacekeepers.

“The Philippines as one of the largest contributors of peacekeepers to the UN would like to see the elimination of these types of weapons since they could end up harming our troops while they are serving abroad carrying out the mandate of the 192-member United Nations,” said Davide.

Davide expressed the Philippines’ “deep concern” over the illicit flow of small arms and added that “given their mass spread and proliferation, SALWs have killed and maimed a great number of combatants and innocent civilians alike.” - PNA

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