PHNOM PENH, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of 218 Cambodian troops arrived home safely on Wednesday evening from Lebanon after they had fulfilled their one-year United Nations peacekeeping mission.
The returnees were welcomed at the Phnom Penh Military Airbase by the Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Tea Banh, minister of defense, Douglas Broderick, United Nations Resident Coordinator, military officials and their family members.
Speaking during the home welcoming ceremony, Tea Banh said the group has brought home with great success and pride for the country and the people of Cambodia.
“This time is also the same as the previous ones since the number of returning is the same the number of going—no one is missing at all,” he said.
Douglas Broderick said Cambodia has made from being a country where UN peacekeeping forces were required, to becoming a contributor to UN peacekeeping operations.
“Your dedication to providing assistance abroad, to sharing your skills and experience with countries that are suffering due to conflict is a source of pride and inspiration,” he said at the home welcoming ceremony.
Meanwhile, Prak Sokhon, minister attached to the Prime Minister and chairman of the National Coordination Committee of UN Peacekeeping Operations, said during the one-year mission, the Cambodian engineering unit 513 had cleared 6,341 square meters of mine and unexploded ordnances, destroying 67 AP mines, 7 anti-personnel mines, and 1,235 ammunition shells.
Besides demining, the group had constructed roads, bridges, barracks, and humanitarian activities such as producing pure drinking water and providing medical treatment to Lebanese civilians, he said.
The repatriation of the first batch from Lebanon was made after the second batch of 218 left the country to replace them on Tuesday.
Cambodia firstly sent troops abroad in April 2006 under the UN umbrella—firstly, it sent to Sudan, then to Chad and Central Africa in order to contribute to the UN’s efforts in peacekeeping operations.
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