Daily Times

In response to an express request from the junta government in Mali, the UN Security Council decided on June 29 in a unanimous vote to end the peacekeeping deployment there. The choice affects all 13,000 MINUSMA forces from different countries.

Currently, Mali is home to over 13,000 peacekeepers from a variety of nations. By the terms of the adopted resolution [resolution UNSC S/2023/480 dated June 29], the mission will completely withdraw from the landlocked nation of Mali by December 31, 2023. All peacekeepers from a number of countries will have to return to their home countries by this period.

In accordance with Resolution 2100 of April 25, 2013, the UN Security Council appointed the mission (MINUSMA) in Mali. Mali and the Sahel region have experienced an increase in confrontations and attacks by armed groups and terrorist organizations during the past ten years. Conditions have also worsened due to climate shocks and rising intercommunal tensions over scarce resources. These have become the main drivers of continued violence, mass displacement, instability, and cross-border trafficking. With 303 peacekeepers killed, MINUSMA is the deadliest UN peacekeeping operation. With a budget of $1.2 billion, MINUSMA is also the UN’s most expensive mission.

However, with the UN mission lifting, experts worry that fresh bloodshed will start to spread in the nation prone to war. Due to insecurity and climate change shocks, one in four Malians is already at risk of starvation. According to the UN, at least 7.5 million people in a country of 22 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. The activities of aid and development organizations that rely on the protection provided by the UN mission would be impacted by the peacekeepers’ exit. This will undoubtedly have a grave security impact on the civilian population.

For UN forces, Mali is regarded as the world’s most unsettling and hazardous country. Being continually threatened by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), the Bangladesh Army engineering contingent (BANENGR) was involved in building an airport at Kidal, located in the Sahara Desert. In the operational Areas of Responsibility (AOR) of MINUSMA, the Bangladesh Signals contingent served as the backbone of communication for multimodal movements and operational campaigns for the UN peacekeepers, European forces, and other agencies. In the most dangerous areas of Northern Mali, the Bangladesh Air Force contingent is the key communication conduit. The Bangladesh Battalion (BANBAT) female engagement team continues its efforts to build a trusting relationship between the UN troops and the local communities in the conflict zones.

While the counter-terrorism campaigns led by other forces often became counterproductive, causing social and political resentment, the peacekeepers’ all-encompassing social approach is globally recognized. Contingents are engaged in the de-escalation of tensions and threats and in building community confidence in favour of peacekeeping troops. The success of Operation Mongoose in Central Mali in October 2020, under the direction of BANBAT, was worth mentioning.

The writer is a researcher and a columnist based in the UK.