§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence in which countries members of the UK armed forces are deployed; how many individuals are deployed in each area; on what dates the deployment(a) began and (b) is expected to end; for what purpose the forces were deployed; whether each deployment was at the request of (i) the UN and (ii) another body; and what organisations are in command of UK forces in each area. [177897]
§ Mr. IngramUnited Kingdom armed forces are deployed overseas on peace-keeping and conflict prevention/resolution operations in the following countries:
Approx personnel numbers Year current ops started UN mission or other Middle East (Inc Iraq) 9,500 2003 Coalition Bosnia 800 1996 NATO/UK Afghanistan area 600 2002 Multinational Cyprus 410 1964 UN Kosovo 190 1999 NATO/UK Georgia 7 1993 UN Sierra Leone 20 1999 UN Dem Rep of Congo 5 1999 UN Ethiopia/ Eritrea 4 2000 UN Liberia 3 2003 UN The UK's participation in all of these operations is kept under regular review. Information on other overseas deployments are provided in the Ministry of Defence's Annual Report and Accounts 2000–2003, and copies are available in the House of Commons Library (ref: HC1125)
UK personnel remain under the ultimate command of the UK at all times. Varying degrees of local command and control are delegated to deployed commanders—including commanders from other UN, Alliance or Coalition members—in order to allow them to complete assigned tasks. In such circumstances, the UK retains a veto over specific missions and tasks given to UK personnel or formations.