At first they were known among their colleagues as Rambos, because of the way they went out looking for trouble. To play down this warrior image and emphasise the serious and peaceful responsibilities attached to their jobs, the innocuous title of Refugee Affairs Officer (RAO) was officially bestowed on the small internationally-recruited teams of men and women - mostly young - whose job it Is to mediate on the spot in volatile confrontations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Their level-headed presence and courage in literally thrusting themselves between the two sides has cut short or prevented many Israeli shootings, beatings and other punitive measures, and often persuaded. intifada demonstrators to drop their ammunition of stones. Christian Saunders, a tall, lean, 29-old Londoner from Fulham, who is in charge of Gaza's RAO team, says : "We can opt out after six months, but most stay on in the Job for a year." RAO's are not allowed to stay for more than a year and none has ever volunteered for an extended or repeat period, for theirs is one of the most stressful Jobs around. The appointment of 12 RAO's in the West Bank and' nine in the Gaza Strip — three of them women — was one response by UNWRA, the United Nations agency charged with the health, education and general welfare of the refugees. Two weeks after the protest movement was launched in late 1987, the UN Security Council called for "ways and means of ensuring the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation." Giorgio Gia-comclli, UNWRA's Commissioner-General, considered the agency had a special obligation to minimise the bloodshed. Conspicuously placed observers would, he reasoned, serve as a restraint on both sides. "Our relationship with the Israeli Army is now quite good and they often allow us to talk them out of certain actions — particularly the beating of small children,' said Saunders. The Israeli border police are a different matter, however. It' was they who recently shot up two of our vehicles and wounded an assistant RAO. Some of them seem to be out of control." Although the Palestinians obviously appreciate them, waving and smiling when they enter the camps, RAO's arc ocasionally made the target of Palestinian stone-throwers. "Paradoxically, it's usually when we have persuaded the military to back off and leave," said Saunders. "Some of the protesters feel frustrated and have to take it out on someone. . .we are the nearest." RAO's arc not allowed to take media correspondents or Indeed anyone - not even the highest UN official - with them into’ the camps. They are forbidden to carry arms, gasmasks, cameras or any object other than their walkie-talkies. "And no matter what the provocation, be it a slap, a punch or worse, we must never retaliate," said Saunders. Their motto could well be : "Who cools it, wins." They are volunteers from many countries. There are Americans, British, French, Germans, Greeks, Italians and Spanish in the teams. They come from many backgrounds. Saunders, by training an epidemiologist, worked in Africa for the Save the Children Fund for five years. "I saw an advertisement for the Job, went to Vienna for a long scries of interviews, and was accepted. I liked the Idea of work In which I could set my own guldlincs and use my own Initiative. Each- situation, each confrontation, is different, so we have to find the solutions as we go along." Ills own worst moment came when a mentally deranged Palestinian schoolboy loosed off 16 shots at him from an automatic weapon. "I could, feel the bullets whizzing past me on bolh sides. There didn't seem much point in even ducking. I couldn't believe it when the firing stopped and not one had hit me." On average RAO's log about 2,000 kilometres a week, cruising the thoroughfares of the Occupied Territories in their vehicles showing the distinctive blue flag of the United Nations, keeping their eyes open for incidents, trying to forestall trouble. They arc in constant radio contact with headquarters and. through the radio, with one another, ready to speed off to the main square of another camp or town where they might be needed to file the sharp edges off some confrontation. In addition to the danger, there Is a welfare aspect to their job; they help sort out some of the refugees' daily problems and listen to reports of incidents that occurred the previous night. Then they Interview eyewitnesses for the report that will be filed to UNWRA headquarters In Vienna. United Nations organisations have sometimes been better known for their Indifference towards staff living in hardship conditions In developing countries than for compassion. But UNWRA has such respect for Its team of RAO's that, recognising the strain imposed on them by the dally dramas, ' the agency flics them out for two weeks' leave after each six weeks of duty. —GEMINI NEWS DENNIS CRAI0 has worked for three UN agencies over 22 years and Is a specialist writer on international organisations.