|
The Iceland Crisis Response Unit (ICRU) or ''Íslenska Friðargæslan'', is a 30-person unit with a capacity roster of up to 200 people operated by the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs.〔(ICRU Yearly report for 2007, Page 6 )〕 It is primarily designated for peacekeeping operations and was established in the 1990s to improve the status of Iceland within NATO as it lacked sufficient armed forces to support NATO peacekeeping operations. That role later evolved into providing an appropriate forum for deploying personnel within other organizations such as with OSCE field missions as well as with UN organizations such as UNIFEM, UNRWA and UNICEF. The ICRU has been deployed to the former territories of Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Afghanistan through NATO missions and UNIFEM and to the Middle East and North Africa with UNICEF, UNRWA and UNHCR. It had a civilian observer mission in Sri Lanka in co-operation with Norway (previously a Nordic mission) and has explosive ordnance disposal personnel from the Icelandic Coast Guard to Lebanon and Iraq. Iceland deployed its first peacekeepers in 1950, when two Icelandic policemen were sent to Palestine as a part of an UN peacekeeping operation. Though many Icelandic specialists have taken part in various peacekeeping operations since, mostly within the UN and its organizations but also within NATO, it was not until the 1990s that organized participation in peacekeeping operations was initiated, formalized with the establishment of the ICRU in 2001. In 2008 a portion of uniformed ICRU deployed personnel still armed for self-defense returned their weapons and changed to civilian clothing. The policy since 2008 is that, unless under special circumstances, ICRU personnel do not wear uniforms or carry weapons. The Ministry of Exterior in 2014 stated that "they do not wear uniforms nor use weapons". As a matter of fact, a college degree is required to join the "peacekeepers". They are more of an aid unit rather than peacekeepers. 〔http://www.utanrikisraduneyti.is/verkefni/throunarsvid/fridargaesla/〕 ==Personnel== The deployed personnel of the ICRU were experts, including Icelandic policemen, Coast Guardsmen and others that had relative training for the concerned institutions. in addition to those mentioned above, these backgrounds range from logistical backgrounds, medical or engineering backgrounds, social sciences and so on. But now, after a law was passed in 2007 the "peacekeepers" need a college degree. In 2014 it's much more of an aid squad rather than peacekeepers. The previously deployed doctors, nurses, those deployed as Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) as well as those working at Kabul International Airport (KAIA) were trained by the Norwegian Defence Force (previously the United Kingdom Armed Forces as well) as they were expected to merge into a military environment and the PRT's as well as those working at Kabul airport would be armed. 〔http://epaper.visir.is/media/200807280000/pdf_online/1_4.pdf Interview with Erlingur Erlingsson, ICRU on amongst other PRT withdrawal〕 Despite being equipped and trained as a military force, some Icelandic politicians commonly maintain that the ICRU is a civilian unit. This opinion is based on the fact that no law explicitly states that the unit is a military force. The legal status of the ICRU can thus be compared to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, even though Icelandic law holds no legal obstructions to forming of military units. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Iceland Crisis Response Unit」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|