UNITED NATIONS, Nov 2: More than 100 Sri Lankan peacekeepers stationed in Haiti are to be repatriated over charges that they paid for sex, a UN spokeswoman said on Friday.

The 108 accused soldiers from Sri Lanka’s 950-strong contingent in the UN mission in Haiti “will be repatriated on disciplinary grounds on Saturday,” Michele Montas said in a statement.

She said the action was ordered “following allegations of incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse by members of MINUSTAH’s Sri Lankan Battalion stationed in a number of locations in Haiti.” The decision was made after a preliminary report by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and with the cooperation of Sri Lankan authorities.

Montas said MINUSTAH had requested the OIOS investigation and said Sri Lanka also sent a high-level national investigative team from Colombo, including a female investigative officer.

“The United Nations and Sri Lanka take this matter very seriously and reiterate their shared commitment to both the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to best practices in peacekeeping,” the UN statement.Montas said that some of the Haitian women involved in the sex-for-money were minors.

“The United Nations and the Sri Lankan government deeply regret any sexual exploitation and abuse that has occurred, despite their efforts to ensure the highest standards of conduct and discipline,” it added.

The case is the latest to hit the UN peacekeepers who have been embroiled in similar incidents in Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic Congo and Liberia.—AFP