Parliamentary panel tells government not to cut 10% from peacekeepers’ pay

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A parliamentary panel has advised the government not to cut 10 percent from the salaries of Bangladeshi soldiers on UN peacekeeping missions.

The recommendation was made at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the Defence Ministry, the Parliament Secretariat said in a press statement on Wednesday.

“The committee went to Congo and Ivory Coast last year to see peacekeeping activities. The matter was then presented by the peacekeepers working there,” said committee member Hosne Ara Begum.

“The recommendation was made because these personnel take plenty of risks while performing their duties.

Bangladesh has the highest number of personnel, in comparison to other countries, working on the peacekeeping operations in countries torn by conflict, according to the figures from Dec 31, 2015.

Among the world total of 125,097 personnel on duty at 16 missions, 8,496 are from Bangladesh.

Of them, 7,255 are from the armed forces, 1,172 from the police and 69 are military experts.

Their pays were raised by seven percent in 2013 after much negotiation.

Source: Bd news24