UN decides to confine entire contingent to barracks

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UNITED NATIONS, July 21 (PTI): In an unusual action, the United Nations decided to confine an entire contingent of peacekeepers to barracks following allegations of widespread sexual abuse in Ivory Coast.
The world body refused to identify the contingent but diplomats and officials said that some 800 peacekeepers of Moroccan were suspended as an internal investigation found that hundreds among them had sex with underage girls.
The United Nations says it has zero tolerance policy and has been proactive in taking action after allegations of sexual exploitation surfaced in Democratic Republic of Congo where some peacekeepers were found trading food and other small gifts for sex with young girls.
The United Nations has about investigated some 300 UN peacekeepers around the world for sexual exploitation in past three years.
Without naming the country to which it belonged, the UN said it has suspended the entire contingent after an internal investigation revealed "serious" allegations of widespread sexual exploitation and abuse.
Officials said the Moroccan diplomats were called by the UN to discuss the issue. If the allegations are substantiated, the UN sends the offenders back to their own country who are expected to prosecute them under the agreement most of the troop contributors have with the world body.
But so far, very few cases of the countries prosecuting such cases have been recorded.