Fiji's military asks UN to help fast track visa approval by Iraq

Fiji's military has asked the UN' Department of Peacekeeping Operations to urge Iraq to speed up the visa processing for Fijian peacekeepers, local newspaper the Fiji Sun reported Wednesday.

Col. Sitiveni Qiliho, land force commander for the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), told the paper that the slow visa process has been affecting the rotation of Fijian peacekeepers in Iraq.

"We have sent in our visa application to Iraq and we are waiting for the approval," Qiliho said, adding that because of the visa delay, some Fijian soldiers have spent two years in Iraq.

Urging Iraq to positively respond to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations' request, Qiliho said the planned rotation can only happen when the visas are issued.

Earlier this month, Timoci Natuva, Fiji's minister for defense, national security and immigration could not visit the Fijian soldiers in Iraq when he visited the troops and police officers serving in the Middle East and Africa because he had no visa, according to the Fiji Sun.

"He (Natuva) told the Fiji Sun that he had applied for his visa to Iraq three months before his visit but he had to skip the visit because there was no approval," the newspaper said.

According to Qiliho, the RFMF has already selected replacement peacekeepers bound for Iraq.

The Pacific island country has deployed over 1,000 peacekeepers to foreign countries such as Syria, Egypt, Iraq, South Sudan, Sudan and Liberia.