CAMBODIA EXPANDS PEACEKEEPING ACTIVITIES ABROAD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000275 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV MARR MASS MOPS CB SUBJECT: CAMBODIA EXPANDS PEACEKEEPING ACTIVITIES ABROAD SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Cambodia plans to expand its peacekeeping operations beyond the existing mission in Sudan, and will deploy peacekeepers in support of the newly forming United Nations peacekeeping mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT). U.S.-supported Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) training has been instrumental in building the capacity of Cambodia's armed forces to contribute to peacekeeping missions. However, to ensure that it can meet its PKO commitments down the road, the RGC needs to develop a longer-term strategy, to include identifying future training needs and clarifying responsibilities within the Armed Forces. End Summary. Expanding PKO -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Greater participation in international Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) illustrates Cambodia's growing interest in raising its international profile and engagement with the international community. Since 2006, approximately 400 Cambodian deminers have served as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan. Cambodia now plans to expand its peacekeeping operations and deploy peacekeepers in support of the newly forming United Nations peacekeeping mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT). The RGC will provide one 125-person Military Police Company and a 40-person Movement Control Platoon for two six-month rotations. The RGC accepted the mission in March 2009 and the units are expected to deploy in July. ¶3. (SBU) A United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) pre-deployment site survey team is expected to visit in early May to assess the units' readiness for deployment. Following this assessment, DPKO will send a training team to conduct two to three weeks of pre-deployment training targeting the shortfalls identified in the assessment. The units will deploy within forty-five days of the completion of the UN training, which would likely be in the middle of July. ¶4. (SBU) Peacekeeping units in Cambodia are under the control of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces' National Center for Peacekeeping Force, Mine Clearance, and Explosive Remnants of War Center (NPMEC) commanded by Lieutenant General Sem Sovanny. Until recently, this center was known as The Mine Clearance Center (TMCC) and focused exclusively on military demining and UNPKO demining. Because of the UNPKO demining units this organization fielded, it was chosen as the partner in the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) by U.S. Pacific Command for increasing PKO capacity. GPOI has trained this organization in general PKO skills over the past three years and NPMEC accordingly stood up the 306th Company manned with personnel trained under the GPOI program. ¶5. (SBU) The 306th Company will form the first 125-person Military Police (MP) unit. According to the NPMEC, the GPOI Lanes training program conducted by the 306th Company in December 2008 and April 2009 has provided sufficient common skills for the 306th to pass UN certification for deployment. The troops not used in the first rotation will partially fill a second company for the follow-on rotation. The Cambodians intend to train the additional personnel to fill the second MP Company through internal training and participation in GPOI Capstone Exercise Garuda Shield in Indonesia in June and GPOI Exercise Khaan Quest in Mongolia in August. Too Far, Too Fast? -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The RGC's acceptance of the mission in March, for deployment in July, has left Cambodia's military planners scrambling to meet the significant challenges of a short fuse deployment. Additionally, significant technical shortcomings exist in NPMEC's ability to field the UN Movement Control Platoon. This unit will be responsible for planning and coordinating all air and ground movement operations in support of MINURCAT. The Cambodian Armed Forces does not have experience in coordinating logistical movement support of that scope or scale. The NPMEC acknowledges that the first deployment will have shortcomings, given the lack of sufficient training, especially for the movement control platoon. Nevertheless, they are committed to meeting RGC's PKO obligations and are confident that GPOI training will adequately prepare their MP unit and the UN pre-deployment training will enable the movement control platoon to make it through the first deployment. NPMEC expects to have fully trained and prepared units for the second rotation in 2010. Comment -------------- ¶7. (SBU) In expanding their international PKO efforts, Cambodia may be heading into deployments for which it may be just barely prepared; this in turn raises questions about the sustainability of PHNOM PENH 00000275 002 OF 002 the PKO expansion. The RGC stepped up to volunteer for a mission despite lacking all the requisite capabilities for it, and with relatively little time to complete training. Without a long-term plan that outlines their strategies and objectives for PKO and types of missions and skills needed in the medium- and long-term, the RGC may find itself over-committed. In the meantime, UN certification appears to be imminent for the MP and Movement Control units, and Cambodian PKO soldiers are so far rising to the occasion as they deploy to Africa. RODLEY