Malaysian police join Darfur peacekeeping force

September 15, 2008 (KUALA LUMPUR) – Seven Malaysian police officers and nine personnel of other ranks left Kuala Lumpur today heading to Sudan to joint the hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

The small police team will be in the war torn region for a year. A first batch from Malaysian police comprising 26 people arrived in June to Sudan.

Malaysia is among few non-African countries accepted by Sudanese government to take part in the peacekeeping force in Darfur.

Since February 2003, more than 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease in western Sudan’s Darfur region, while 2.2 million others have been left homeless.

UNAMID is supposed to have more than 26,000 uniformed personnel, including peacekeepers and police officers, when it reaches full deployment. But currently only about 10,000 blue helmets are there for the time being.

(ST)