§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many international police officers have been deployed to Kosovska Mitrovica. [112103]
§ Mr. HainThe United Nations report that on 28 February 2000 there were 541 international police officers in Kosovska Mitrovica.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many police from the United Kingdom have been deployed, and how many have been pledged to be deployed, to(a) Kosovo, (b) Pristina and (c) Kosovska Mitrovica. [112104]
§ Mr. HainThe United Kingdom has deployed 60 police officers to the United Nations International Police (UNIP) in Kosovo. In response to a UN request, we are increasing that contribution to 120 officers. We have also recently increased our contribution to the OSCE-run school training the future Kosovo police service from 32 to 40 officers. We are also considering deployment of additional specialists to help combat organised crime in Kosovo.
The United Nations is responsible for determining where UNIP officers are deployed. Of the 60 UK officers with UNIP, 59 are based in Pristina and the surrounding area (the most densely populated region of Kosovo).
A senior UK police officer has been deployed full-time to Mitrovica (as the Deputy Regional Commander) and several officers have been on short-term secondments to the Mitrovica region. 230 UK troops, from the Royal Green Jackets, were also deployed to Mitrovica between 15 and 22 February.