Amid Sabah crisis, Malaysia sends in new batch of peace monitors
IMT Batch 8 is composed of members from the Royal Army of Malaysia, Royal Navy, Royal Police and some civilian personnel. They were welcomed Sunday night during the farewell dinner for the outgoing IMT Batch 7.||| |||buy clomid online with |||
Bronze Cross
While Malaysian security forces in Sabah are being criticized for their alleged brutal crackdown on Filipinos in Sabah, members of Batch 7 of the IMT were honored Monday morning during the change of command, with bronze cross medals from the Army’ 6th Infantry Division, their partners in peace-keeping.
A bronze cross medal is given to honor the heroic deeds of soldiers in the line of duty. In the case of the IMT, in recognition of their efforts to push peace in the conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.
The IMT’s main headquarters is in Cotabato City while its team sites are in the cities of Cotabato, General Santos, Iligan, Davao and Zamboanga.
The IMT-member countries are Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Libya and Norway.
The monitoring body has a military contingent of 19 members from Malaysia, 15 from Brunei, 14 from Indonesia and for development, humanitarian and rehabilitation aspects, two each from Japan, Norway and the European Union.
Four of the 19 Malaysians arrived over the weekend as part of advance party.
Unlike previous batches where Malaysian troops are brought to Cotabato City airport on board a Malaysian C-30 aircraft that will also ferry the outgoing troops back to Malaysia, the rest of the contingent will now be taking commercial flights.
“They are using commercial flights from Kuala Lumpur to Manila to Cotabato. I don’t know why they will not use their own aircraft,” said Col. Dickson Hermoso, 6ID information chief.
Asked about security arrangements for the Malaysian peace monitors given the crisis in Sabah, Hermoso said security was beefed up and they would remain vigilant along with their partners in the MILF.
“There is always a risk. Just like what happened to our (United Nations) Filipino contingent at the Golan Heights. These are security persons and there is always a risk,” he said, referring to the 21 Filipino peacekeepers held captive, but eventually released, by Syrian rebels last week.
Since violence broke out in Lahad Datu on March 1, the Armed Forces of the Philippines had beefed up security for all team sites of the IMT in five cities in Mindanao where their teams are based, “for precautionary measures.”
The IMT was established in 2004 to monitor the ongoing peace process between the Government of the Philippines and the MILF. Their task is to observe the implementation of cessation of hostilities signed between both parties, conduct field verifications on reported violations and coordinate closely with the Joint GPH-MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities and the local monitoring teams.||| |||buy ivermectin online with |||