UN welcomes ASEAN peacekeeping force, promises help
UN welcomes ASEAN peacekeeping force, promises help
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The United Nations welcomed on Wednesday Indonesia's proposal to
build a regional peacekeeping force and promised to provide
assistance to make it a reality.
The peacekeeping force is an integral part of the ASEAN
Security Community (ASC) concept, which is designed to resolve
regional conflicts and maintain security in the ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region.
"From the UN's point of view, we welcome the initiative (ASEAN
peacekeeping force) and we also welcome all such initiatives in
various regions in the world," Danilo Tuerk, Assistant Secretary
General of the UN, told Indonesian journalists in Jakarta after
the end of the 4th UN-ASEAN Conference on Wednesday.
"We see tendency of growth of support for peacekeeping and not
only in ASEAN but also in Africa, Europe and Latin America, so
there is a tendency to strengthen the multilateral capacity for
peacekeeping," Tuerk said.
He said that the establishment of the peacekeeping force would
depend on the region's requirements.
"We in the UN does not insist that all peacekeeping forces
must be like the UN's peacekeeping force, and there can be other
arrangements depending on the needs and very often the UN can
also provide guidance without necessarily resorting to
peacekeeping activities," he said.
Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman and director-general for
ASEAN cooperation Marty M. Natalegawa said that the UN had
promised to provide assistance to ASEAN to develop the ASC.
"During the conference (UN-ASEAN conference), the UN promised
it would provide assistance, including training and the lessons
learned from the conflict prevention, conflict resolution and
post-conflict peace building to avoid mistakes in implementing
the ASC," Marty said.
The ASEAN peacekeeping force was first put forward by
Indonesia as a part of its ASEAN Security Community (ASC)
concept, which was first proposed by Indonesia last October at
the ninth ASEAN Summit in Bali.
The ASC is one of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community,
along with the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN
Sociocultural Community.
Indonesia presented the draft action plan on ASC to ASEAN
senior officials during a meeting in Jakarta last Friday.
Meanwhile, Julia Taft director of the UN Development Fund's
Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery lauded the proposal for
a regional peacekeeping force.
"It's an exciting possibility, we look forward to setting out
the details," Taft told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
She said that it was important for ASEAN member countries to
work together to improve security in the region.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on
Tuesday that a regional force was needed because "most conflicts
in the world today are not between states but within states, and
internal strife has a way of spilling over from the embattled
country to the rest of the region.
However, the Bangkok Post reported on Monday that the regional
peacekeeping force proposal, according to Thailand Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, was not necessary.
Sathirathai said that no international conflicts were raging
in the region and if such problems arose and help from members of
ASEAN was needed, individual members could send their troops in
to help.
The others ASEAN members are yet to endorse the peacekeeping
proposal, which is expected to be discussed formally in June at
the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta.