On July three, 2023, the Bangladeshi Ministry of Overseas Affairs announced the withdrawal of Bangladeshi peacekeepers from Mali. Considering the fact that the Bangladeshi peacekeeping contingent was the premier United Nations (UN) peacekeeping contingent in Mali, the Bangladeshi withdrawal from Mali is an significant section in Bangladesh’s a few-a long time-long participation in UN peace functions.
Participation in UN peace functions has been a supply of countrywide pride and status for Bangladesh since it begun deploying peacekeepers to UN operations in 1988. Due to the fact then, 188,558 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have participated in sixty three UN functions in forty states across the world, and 167 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have misplaced their life while serving their constitutional and global duties. In addition to improving countrywide prestige, participation in UN operations supplies the region with financial and politico-diplomatic dividends. Bangladeshi peacekeepers have been lavishly counseled and rewarded for their professionalism, discipline, courage and humane conduct in the course of their assistance. Furthermore, participation in UN operations now constitutes an significant part of Bangladesh’s emerging ‘soft electric power.’ In truth, prompt and enthusiastic participation in UN operations has served Bangladesh cement its placement on the global stage as a ‘product member of the UN.’
Bangladeshi participation in the UN operation in Mali has been a component of this broader course of action. The Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation au Mali (United Nations Multidimensional Built-in Stabilization Mission in Mali) or MINUSMA was initiated on April twenty five, 2013 by the UN Security Council (UNSC) at the ask for of the Malian government. From 2012 onwards, the landlocked West African point out is experiencing insurgencies, secessionist actions, inter-ethnic conflicts, political instability and foreign interventions. When MINUSMA troops have been deployed to Mali in July 2013, the Malian federal government had basically lost manage of most of the region, and French, African and European Union (EU) troops were now deployed there. MINUSMA was an unusually troop-hefty UN mission with a robust mandate deployed in the midst of a war, and it proved to be the costliest and second deadliest UN peace procedure so far, costing the UN a lot more than $10.3 billion and the life of 309 peacekeepers.
Even with comprehending the pitfalls, Bangladesh had promptly responded to the UN’s phone for deployment in Mali. As of May possibly 2023, the Bangladeshi contingent in MINUSMA was the biggest in terms of the variety of deployed staff, comprising forty seven workers officers, 1,331 troops and 282 police personnel. In addition to fulfilling the standard jobs of peacekeeping (this sort of as base security, patrolling, navy observation and preservation of ceasefires), Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Mali routinely guarded convoys, offered the Malian people with humanitarian support and healthcare aid, and fraternized with them, thus environment an crucial case in point of civil-military services cooperation. The area populace, the other nationwide contingents in MINUSMA and the UN all have highly praised the professionalism, dutifulness, humanitarianism and stringent discipline of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Mali.
The UN has recognized the contribution of Bangladeshi peacekeepers to MINUSMA by fulfilling them consistently and continuously. For case in point, 139 Bangladeshi police staff in MINUSMA were awarded the UN Medal on April 12, 2018. 140 Bangladeshi law enforcement personnel in MINUSMA ended up awarded the UN Peacekeeping Award on Sept. 21, 2021. 329 Bangladeshi peacekeepers received the UN Medal on 28 November 2022. So, the functionality of Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Mali has been satisfactory and exemplary.
Having said that, though Bangladeshi peacekeepers ended up very praised by MINUSMA officers and the Malian people today, the overall political predicament in Mali was deteriorating. On Aug.18, 2020, the Malian government was overthrown in a armed forces coup, and a navy-managed interim federal government was mounted in Bamako. On 24 May 2021, the interim Malian federal government was overthrown in one more armed service coup, and a new armed forces-controlled federal government was shaped. Meanwhile, Bamako’s view of MINUSMA and European forces deployed in the nation remodeled quickly. The Malian government used Russian personal navy contractors to combat versus insurgent groups in January 2022, and Bamako’s pivot to Moscow ruined its relations with other European powers. Therefore, European and French troops ended up withdrawn from Mali in June and August 2022, respectively.
At the exact same time, the Malian federal government imposed numerous limitations on MINUSMA, like the suspension of the rotation of MINUSMA troops and the curtailment of their mobility. In July 2022, the Malian government detained 49 Ivorian troops on their arrival in Bamako, accusing them of being ‘mercenaries’. Nonetheless, the Ivorian govt argued that the detained Ivorian troopers ended up portion of MINUSMA. Given that 2022, hundreds of Malian citizens have participated in protests that referred to as for the withdrawal of MINUSMA from Mali. On June sixteen, 2023, the Malian government formally requested the UN to withdraw its peacekeepers from Mali. Less than the UN Charter, no peace operations can be executed on the territory of a region without having the categorical authorization of that country’s governing administration. So, the UN had no choice but to comply with the request of the Malian authorities.
Appropriately, the UN Stability Council voted to terminate MINUSMA on June thirty, 2023, and UN peacekeepers are scheduled to conduct a phased withdrawal from Mali by one January 2024. As a portion of the method of the withdrawal of MINUSMA, Bangladeshi peacekeepers are becoming withdrawn from Mali. It should be noted that other international locations taking part in MINUSMA, these kinds of as Germany, have also began withdrawing their peacekeepers from Mali.
In some social media circles, the withdrawal of Bangladeshi peacekeepers from Mali has been interpreted as a type of punishment inflicted on Bangladesh by the United Nations or the United States and it was related to inside political dynamics in Bangladesh. This interpretation is incongruent with fact, and these defective interpretations are deleterious to Bangladesh’s countrywide picture and broader national passions. Nevertheless, most Bangladeshis are unaware of the aspects of the UN peace procedure in Mali, and this has authorized the misrepresentation of the situation with the Bangladeshi troop withdrawal from Mali.
It need to be retained in intellect that MINUSMA has been one particular of the most unsafe UN operations for Bangladeshi peacekeepers. Given that 1988, 167 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have misplaced their lives when taking part in UN operations. Amid them, sixteen have been killed in Mali. This represents nine.58% of all Bangladeshi fatalities in UN peace functions. A quantity of insurgent teams in Mali ended up accountable for these fatalities. Now that the Malian authorities has also turned against MINUSMA, the predicament in Mali has come to be extra unsafe for UN peacekeepers. Amidst this sort of a condition, the withdrawal of Bangladeshi peacekeepers from Mali is a prudent and intelligent final decision.
To sum up, 3 conclusions can be drawn from these occasions.
1st, Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Mali have performed their duties professionally, diligently and humanely under quite hard instances, as attested by UN and Malian officers as very well as Malian civilians.
Next, the UN Security Council has determined to stop the UN operations in Mali, and appropriately, all UN peacekeepers, like Bangladeshi ones, are scheduled to withdraw from that region.
3rd, the withdrawal of Bangladeshi peacekeepers from Mali has no relation in any respect to the inside political dynamics of Bangladesh, and it is not any form of ‘punishment’ on Bangladesh. In reality, the recent successful take a look at of UN peacekeeping main Jean-Pierre Lacroix to Bangladesh implies that the UN is possible to recruit much more peacekeepers from Bangladesh in long run.
Thus, the incident of the withdrawal of Bangladeshi peacekeepers from Mali should really not be misinterpreted, and instead, the attempts and sacrifices of Bangladeshi peacekeepers for the establishment of peace and safety in Mali must be duly regarded and honoured.
[Photo by Wikimedia Commons]
*Md. Himel Rahman is a write-up-graduate pupil of Protection Research at the Division of Worldwide Relations, College of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and a freelance analyst on international and strategic affairs. His content articles have been revealed in The Geopolitics, the South Asian Voices, the Each day Star, the Dhaka Tribune, the Every day Observer and other platforms. The sights and thoughts expressed in this posting are all those of the writer.
