When Mali recently called for a UN peacekeeping force to depart the country “without delay,” it was the latest sign of unease in parts of Africa over the role of the so-called Blue Helmet operations.
Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdoulaye Diop last month called for the UN Security Council to withdraw peacekeepers from his country “without delay,” denouncing their “failure” to meet security challenges.
The UN Security Council, which was due to vote on the renewal of the mission’s mandate on Thursday next week, is likely to agree to Mali’s request, diplomatic sources said.
Photo: Reuters
A draft resolution, which would have to be approved by the council, “acknowledges the withdrawal” and refers to a six-month period to organize the departure of about 12,000 military and police personnel, a source said.
The mission has been in “persistent crisis” since Mali’s military coup in 2020, said Anjali Dayal, associate professor of International Politics ay Fordham University in New York City.
Mali’s military has increasingly imposed operational restrictions on the peacekeepers, demanding that the mission instead tackle terror groups in the country.
The landlocked Sahel state has been battling a security crisis since jihadist and separatist insurgencies broke out in 2012.
“It’s not the only mission in the world to have host state problems,” Dayal said.
Blue Helmet forces have also faced friction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
In the DRC, anti-UN demonstrations have repeatedly broken out over the years, while the government has called for an “accelerated” departure of the UN’s mission there.
“There is a ‘consent crisis’ in several African countries,” said Patryk Labuda, an expert in international law, human rights and peacekeeping at the University of Zurich.
“Populations and governments are not satisfied with the services provided by the Blue Helmets,” but for different reasons in each country, he said.
Richard Gowan, the International Crisis Group’s UN director, said that “the Blue Helmets are finding it difficult to play a role in the persistent violence” in the DRC, South Sudan and Mali.
“The local population often views UN units with skepticism and contempt,” he said. “I think that some governments in Africa think that the UN wastes too much time talking about human rights and too little time killing off troublesome insurgents.”
Under UN mandates, peacekeepers are authorized to use force only as a last resort to defend themselves or the mandate. They are neither a peace enforcement tool nor an anti-terrorist force.
Gowan said Russia’s paramilitary Wagner group, which is active in several Saharan countries, represents the “predatory and brutal” alternative to the Blue Helmets, using lethal force against insurgents.
“In reality, this is usually a recipe for more chaos,” Gowan said.
Divisions within the UN Security Council do not help.
“This level of resistance that we’re seeing from some host governments — not all but from some — I think is connected to the divisions that we’re currently seeing within the Security Council. And host states are unfortunately using this as leverage,” said Julie Gregory, a research analyst at the Stimson Center think tank.
Mali’s decision “may send a signal to other governments: If you’re not happy, you can be more assertive. It may reduce the UN’s room for maneuver,” Labuda said.
However, despite the setbacks faced by Blue Helmet forces, the achievements of UN missions should not be forgotten, experts say.
“The way we think about peacekeeping is so colored by its failures because they are visible and big, but it’s a pretty successful tool,” Dayal said. “It tends to reduce the spread of conflict; it tends to keep casualty levels lower; it tends to be particularly effective at protecting people from rebels.”
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