BSF team accorded reception after return from Haiti

A reception was accorded to a 160-strong Border Security Force (BSF) contingent here on Wednesday after its successful completion of a year-long stint under the U.N. Peace Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

The contingent was led by Deputy Inspector General R.C. Singh and had returned home on January 6.

Speaking at the reception, Border Security Force Director General, U K Bansal, said he was happy that despite difficult odds, the BSF contingent had provided help to the Haitian population and had won their trust.

Haiti is an area spread over 27,750 square kilometers. It has a population of approximately one million and has been badly affected by natural calamities beside poor governance.

Port-au-Prince is its capital and the UN mission's headquarters is located there.

The contingent was given specific training with reference to combat the menace of civil war and to assist local police/ administration to maintain civil order, crowd control, protection functions, filling capacity gap, VIP security of UN staff, capacity enhancement and armed support to HNP (Haiti National Police).

The BSF contingent was imparted training to accomplish the role and task as per the UN mandate.

India has a major representation of troops on UN Mission in various countries in which BSF is also a major contributing force. This was the first BSF contingent on UN Mission to Haiti and was replaced by a second contingent.

The main purpose for the deployment was to strengthen law and order, to control aggressive mobs, to enhance the capabilities of local police and to win the hearts of civil population through civic action programmes. (ANI)