(Credit: MINUSMA/Blagoje Grujic) UN peacekeepers on patrol in Kidal, Mali.
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK – Mali remains locked in a dangerous, “endless cycle of instability” amid a military coup, delay of return to civilian rule, on-going extremist attacks, and Russian mercenaries operating in the west African nation. In the midst of this dangerous mix, the UN’s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission continues to operate. MINUSMA is the most dangerous UN peacekeeping operation in the world with nearly 300 “blue helmets” killed since the mission established in 2013. Just last Friday, two UN peacekeepers were killed and two others injured when an improvised bomb exploded in central Mali. Many critics of the $1.3 Billion annual budgeted MINUSMA operation say it is ineffective in protecting civilians and should end.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres admitted in a 5 May interview with French radio station RFI that an AU-authorised African force with a peace enforcement mandate may be more appropriate than MINUSMA, given the dangerous security situation in Mali. But in the same interview, Guterres suggested that Mali would collapse without MINUSMA and that he would not recommend ending the UN operation because the “consequences would be terrible”. In June, the UN Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of MINUSMA, which expires on 30 June. Uncertainty persists over the establishment of a new transition timetable in Mali to restore constitutional order following coups d’état in August 2020 and May 2021. The security landscape has changed significantly as Mali’s relations with France and neighbouring Sahel states have deteriorated, and transition authorities have reportedly partnered with the Wagner Group, a Russian private security company. Wagner and Malian forces allegedly executed about 300 civilians and suspected terrorists in the village of Mourah from 27 to 30 March.
Malian Civilians Would Be “Main Victims” If MINUMSA Ended
(Photo By Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times) Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations briefs reporters at UN world headquarters in New York.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the UN, during Tuesday’s June 7 press briefing with reporters, elaborated on Guterres predicting “terrible consquences” for Malian civilians if MINSUMA ends:
“Well, I mean, I think it does not take much imagination to imagine what would happen in Mali if the UN peacekeeping troops were to disappear overnight and the impact on civilians who depend on the protection of peacekeepers, our humanitarian operations and the overall security situation. And I think the Malian people would be, the civilians would be the first and main victims.”
