UN SECURITY COUNCIL DECIDES TO END PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN MALI

Sat 01 July 2023:

The United Nations Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution to end the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) as of June 30.

It also requested the mission to immediately start on July 1 the cessation of its operations, transfer of its tasks, as well as the orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal of its personnel, with the objective of completing this process by Dec. 31, 2023.

Resolution 2690 was adopted unanimously by the 15-member council.

It asked the UN secretary-general to engage with the Malian government to articulate a plan for the transfer of MINUSMA’s tasks, and present it to the Security Council by Aug. 15.

The resolution also called on the Malian government to cooperate fully with the United Nations during MINUSMA’s drawdown, withdrawal and liquidation to ensure the orderly and safe withdrawal of the mission.

Until Sept. 30, “acting within its means and capabilities in its immediate vicinity,” MINUSMA is authorized to respond to imminent threats of violence to civilians and contribute to the safe civilian-led delivery of humanitarian assistance, it said.

The resolution decided that until its final departure, MINUSMA is authorized to fulfil functions including to provide security for UN personnel, facilities, convoys, installations and equipment and associated personnel, and to execute operations in order to extract UN personnel and humanitarian workers in danger.

Speaking at a Security Council briefing on June 16, Malian foreign minister Abdoulaye Diop asked for the withdrawal, without delay, of MINUSMA.

While paying tribute to all the peacekeepers, he noted that the reasons leading to the mission’s establishment in 2013 were to stabilize threats in the north of Mali.

Diop said security had worsened in other areas, such as the country’s center, adding that the mission has not achieved its main work.

The mission has become a part of the problem and is creating distrust among civilians, he said.

International reaction

The United States deputy ambassador, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, expressed regret at the military government’s decision to abandon the UN mission. He also said “some domestic actors” in Mali are calling for harassment of peacekeepers and urged the mission to ensure the safe and orderly transfer of UN facilities and equipment to UN-designated places.

“The UN has a responsibility to minimise the risk that its assets fall into the hands of those looking to destabilise Mali, or bring harm to its people, including violent extremist organisations and the Wagner Group,” he said.

The UK’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward expressed regret that Mali wanted the peacekeepers to leave at a time when the region is “facing increasing instability and humanitarian needs”.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “renewed his country’s unstinting support towards Mali in the military-technical field as well as for humanitarian and economic assistance”.

Mali has struggled to stem an armed rebellion that took root following an uprising in 2012. The UN Security Council deployed MINUSMA in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability.

Frustrations about the growing insecurity spurred two coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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