Canada PoliticsPotential Canadian peacekeeping missions to come
[Canadian Minister of National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan listens as Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion responds to a question during an interview at the NATO summit in Warsaw on July 9, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld]
The country’s top soldier says Canadian Forces will soon be bound for Africa, prompting speculation that Canada is about to fulfil the Liberals’ election promise to renew Canada’s role as global peacekeepers.
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced an increase in troop support for NATO with 450 troops heading to Latvia, renewing Canada’s place within the United Nations was his campaign focus.
The UN currently has 16 active peacekeeping missions around the world; nine in Africa that Canadians soldiers could potentially join. Two missions in Africa, however, are the top contenders for a Canadian contribution.
In addition, the UN approved in January a mission to monitor a peace deal between the government of Colombia and FARC that Canada and Mexico are rumoured to likely join.
Here are some UN peacekeeping missions, one of which Canada could join:
Mali: UN peacekeepers arrived in Mali in April 2013, in the midst of ongoing political turmoil.
In January 2012, armed combatants from the Tuareg ethnic group, bolstered by Islamic groups including Ansar Dine, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and the Mouvement pour l’unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l’Ouest, began attacks against Malian government forces in the north of the country. By March, the group succeeded in a military coup d’etat in the north, taking power and declaring an independent state in April.
A peace deal that April that led to the resignation of the president and the eventual establishment of a national unity government failed to stem fighting.
Today, the UN contingent includes 10,601 uniformed troops, 40 military observers, 1,109 police, 1,246 civilian personnel and 158 UN volunteers.
At least 86 UN personnel have been killed in the three years of the mission.
Central African Republic: In December 2012, long-running conflict resumed when the Muslim Seleka rebel coalition launched attacks on government forces. A peace agreement signed in January 2013 failed to quell the violence and President François Bozizé fled the country.
Sectarian fighting and food shortages threatened to destabilize the entire region and UN forces arrives in April 2014.
It was here that the UN was wracked by a sex abuse scandal, with more than 200 girls and young women coming forward with accounts of rape and abuse at the hands of peacekeepers.
Today, the 13,000-strong UN contingent is comprised of 10,076 uniformed troops, 145 military observers, 1,909 police, 760 civilian personnel and 185 UN volunteers. There have been 22 UN fatalities.
Colombia: UN members voted in January to send a team of international observers to monitor disarmament should the Colombian government reach a final peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army. The two sides are in the final stages of a four-year peace process that culminated in a ceasefire and disarmament deal signed in June. Colombian officials said earlier this week they hope for a full peace deal to be signed this month.
The deal would bring an end to Latin America’s longest-running conflict.
Other, less likely, African missions:
Western Sahara: UN troops arrived in 1991 in the Morocco territory where the separatist Polisario Front is demanding independence. In April, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommended the mission be extended, warning that the conflict could easily flare up again. Today the contingent consists of 27 uniformed troops, 206 military observers, 241 civilian personnel and four UN volunteers.
Liberia: Embroiled in civil war from 1989 to 1997, a second war erupted in 1999 when a group of rebels attacked rebel leader-turned-President Charles Taylor’s government forces. In place since September 2003, the UN has 4,704 personnel in place today, including 2,674 uniformed troops, 65 military observers and 632 police.
Côte d'Ivoire: In place since April 2004 — toward the end of a five-year ethnic and religious civil war — the UN today has 5,800-strong contingent that includes 4,727 uniformed personnel.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Some five million people are believed to have been killed in fighting between 1994 and 2003. Fighting continues with several rebel groups operating in the country. UN peacekeepers arrived in July 2010. There are 16,978 uniformed troops, 471 military observers, 1,406 police, 3,470 civilian personnel and 383 UN volunteers.
Darfur: Sudan President Omar al-Bashir has been indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court for what is described as a genocide against the country’s non-Arab minorities in the Darfur region of the country. A joint operation of the African Union and the UN, UN peacekeepers arrived in July 2007. Today, there are 13,760 uniformed troops, 182 military observers, 3,004 police, 3,412 civilian personnel and 155 UN volunteers. There have been 233 reported fatalities.
Abyei: A contested, oil-rich region, Abyei has been contested between Sudan and South Sudan since the former split from the north in 2011. In place since June 2011, the UN today has 4,409 uniformed troops, 128 military observers, 17 police, 202 civilian personnel and 31 UN volunteers in Abyei.
South Sudan: On July 9, 2011, South Sudan became the newest country in the world as a result of a six-year peace process to end decades of civil war. The UN recently warned of renewed fighting in the country. The UN has a 16,000-strong contingent in place, including 13,571 uniformed personnel.
