Re: Mali Mission

by **Edgefore** Sun 24 Feb 2019, 9:34 pm

Greater Victoria MP Randall Garrison to push for extended Canadian mission in Mali

Posted By: Julian Kolsuton: February 24, 2019

Mali Mission - Page 10 Randall-with-Canadian-Troops-in-Mali-e1551053751207

Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke MP Randall Garrison meeting with Canadian personnel in Mali (Photo: Government of Canada)

Member of Parlement Randall Garrison says after his trip to visit Canadian Armed Forces in Mali he will push for an extension to the mission.

Canada is set to leave by Aug. 1 but Garrison, who was visiting with the National Defence Committee, says the trip for him affirmed concerns that the gap up to Oct. 15 when Romanian forces will replace Canada could put lives at risk and force a reduction in UN activities.

“I’ll be arguing very strongly that we ought to extend that mission to prevent that gap before the Romanians arrive. I don’t really understand why we have a hard date of August 1st,” said Garrison, who is vice chair of the committee.

“What the UN is doing is trying to do is stabilize the country and make sure the government doesn’t collapse… if that country does collapse it endangers its neighbors and provides a safe haven for terrorist activities, it will result in a vast increase in drug trafficking and human trafficking in the Sahara.”

Currently, Canada has deployed around 250 personnel to provide medi-evac support to the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the state, and to contribute to peace and stabilization efforts.

The committee also heard other comments on the Canadian support, such as high praise for providing the support, and requests for speeding up Canada’s delivery on the commitment to provide police — in particular women police officers.

“We’ve sent one man and one woman… unfortunately that’s not anywhere near what we promised to send,” said Garrison.

“The liberals made promises for increasing contribution to UN peacekeeping, but are slow to deliver on them.”

The federal government looked to send up to 20 civilian police officers to support both the UN peacekeeping mission and the European Union training mission in Mali.

Garrison says Canada also has a great opportunity to help Mali take over their own security.

The National Defence Committee visited the West African state from Feb. 9 to 16 following the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke MP’s urging. Due to extreme safety concerns the trip was under a media and social media blackout until the committee returned.

On Jan.20 five Canada helicopters and crews responded from Gao to Aguelhok following a complex attack.

Fifteen wounded were transported out, and water, food and ammunition were delivered to remaining peacekeepers.

No Canadians were hurt, but ten peacekeepers were killed and another 25 were injured.

On Jan. 25, Canadian crews responded to another incident where two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were killed in Douentza area after hitting an explosive device.

“[Out trip was] nothing compared to the risks that the Canadians who serve are under each and every day while they are there but it was one of the more high-risk missions from the house of commons,” he said.

“There are so many parties and so many possibilities for things to go wrong that it’s a very fragile country to be in.”

The Standing Committee on National Defence says they study the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as the domestic, continental and international security environment.

The committee has 12 members from across the three main parties. Liberal MP for Kelowna — Lake Country Stephen Fuhr is the chair.

With files from the CBC

https://www.cheknews.ca/greater-victoria-mp-randall-garrison-to-push-for-extended-canadian-mission-in-mali-537900/

by **Powergunner** Tue 26 Feb 2019, 5:12 pm

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Kelowna-Lake Country MP Steven Fuhr (front left) and the defence committee in Mali, Africa. (Photo/Steven Fuhr-Facebook)

Kelowna-Lake Country MP returns from mission in Mali

Liberal MP Steven Fuhr spent 10 days working on a report for the Canadian government.

MACKENZIE BRITTON - Feb. 26, 2019

Kelowna Lake Country MP Stephen Fuhr got a first-hand view of the work Canada is doing to bring stability to Mali.

Fuhr was part of the Canadian government’s defence committee visit to the west African country as part of Operation PRESENCE—Mali, Canada’s effort to help set conditions for peace and development in Mali.

Fuhr, a 20-year military veteran, said he was happy with what he saw of the the operation during his 10 days in the area, where food, water, unemployment and issues of inequality have been reported.

“There’s 18 million people in Mali, and it’s in a fragile state,” said Fuhr.

“Canada is there supporting the community and stabilizing the region. (Our troops) set the bar very high, and everyone we talked to was happy that the Canadians were there.”

The Canadian operation is in support of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), which has been a combined effort by troops from Germany, Canada, Romania, and others to stabilize the area.

Just last week three UN peacekeepers were killed in the area of Siby, near the capital, Bamako.

The UN reports that, MINUSMA is the deadliest mission to serve in as a UN ‘blue helmet.’

More than 180 have died, since it was established in 2013. In 2019 alone, the number of fatalities stands at 15.

Canadian Forces have provided medical evacuations, helping more UN forces through the area, and has helped save lives with the delivery of blood products, something Fuhr said Canada is the first to be able to do.

His committee’s mission was to learn from the ongoing operation and report back in order to work towards an administrative analysis on the country’s response to the global conflict resolution.

“We’ll make recommendations to the government of Canada on what we can do better, or differently in the area,” said Fuhr.

Part of the committee’s report will detail the best, and safest, ways for the transition of Canadian troops out of the area, so Romania’s forces can replace the Canadians in the best possible way.

Canada’s expected to pull out of the area in July, said Fuhr.

“Canada is there for a humanitarian and compassion problem, and it is dangerous. But the (Canadian Armed) Forces are experts at mitigating risks,” he added.

“Canada has the ability to help, and that’s what we do. It’s something we can be very proud of.”

Mali is the eighth largest country in Africa and one of the poorest in the world.

It was destabilized after al-Qaeda-linked fighters took control of the northern areas of the country in early 2012.

France intervened, militarily, but Central Mali remains unstable owing to a resurgence of violence between ethnic groups, notably Fulani nomadic herders and Dogon farmers over access to land.

https://www.kelownacapnews.com/news/kelowna-lake-country-mp-returns-from-mission-in-mali/

by Thunder Thu 14 Mar 2019, 1:55 pm

Nanaimo doctor back home after tour of duty in Mali

Andy Garland, CTV Vancouver Island
Published Thursday, March 14, 2019

A first-of-its-kind mission for the Canadian Armed Forces is playing out in the war-torn country of Mali — and a Nanaimo doctor played a major role.

Dr. Andrew McLaren, a critical care doctor at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, finished his seven-month tour of duty in Mali.

Whlie he was there, McLaren led a team of four highly trained medical staff on an unique mission with the Canadian Medical Emergency Response Team (CMERT).

“It's led by a critical care physician, an ICU nurse and two medics,” said McLaren. “It brings the rescucitation room to the patient and we are providing early advanced decision making.”

As part of the operation, McLaren had to make life-saving decisions while tethered inside a moving helicopter traveling 300 kilometres an hour with 50 pounds of gear on his back amid deafening noise and over 40-degree weather.

All the while, there was the potential of extremist forces on the ground looking to target him and his team.

Patients were transported to a trauma facility at a Canadian camp, and McLaren said the majority of the injuries he saw were trauma-related.

“Medical evacuation in a non-permissive environment like that, that’s dangerous, you think of trauma,” said McLaren. “It was penetrating injuries like gunshot wounds, blast injuries like an IED blast or blunt trauma like being in a road traffic collision.”

McLaren said he plans on using the skills he learned for teaching as well as his everyday work environment.

CMERT is part of Operation Presence, which is Canada’s peacekeeping role for the United Nations in Mali. Its contribution to the cause is expected to be complete at the end of July.

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/nanaimo-doctor-back-home-after-tour-of-duty-in-mali-1.4336085

by Terrarium Fri 22 Mar 2019, 9:51 pm

UN formally asks Canada to extend Mali mission to prevent medevac gap

A Canadian Armed Forces member turns away from a Chinook helicopter as it lands during a demonstration at the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Gao, Mali on December 22, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Lee Berithiaume, The Canadian Press
Published Friday, March 22, 2019 4:44PM EDT
Last Updated Friday, March 22, 2019 5:50PM EDT

OTTAWA -- The United Nations has formally asked Canada to extend its mission in Mali in what appears to be a last-ditch effort to prevent a gap in the provision of military medical evacuations for wounded peacekeepers and UN staff.

The UN request is contained in a letter sent to the federal government at the end of February after months of quiet lobbying was met with steadfast resistance in Ottawa.

The move is somewhat unusual because such formal requests are often only made when the UN believes it has a good chance of success, which is anything but certain in this particular circumstance.

Yet the presence of a formal request also increases the pressure on Canada to respond positively after the government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, repeatedly played down the gap.

The timing is also noteworthy given that the UN hosts a major peacekeeping summit in New York next week, the first such meeting since Canada hosted a similar event in Vancouver in November 2017.

Canada has eight helicopters and 250 military personnel in Mali, where they have been providing emergency medical evacuations and transporting troops and equipment across a large swath of the remote African country.

The contingent is scheduled to end operations at the end of July, at which point it will pack up and leave before a Romanian force arrives to take over.

However, the Romanians aren't scheduled to begin operations until Oct. 15, meaning there will be a roughly two-and-a-half-month gap needed to be filled.

In its Feb. 28 letter to the government, portions of which were read to The Canadian Press, the UN "kindly asks the government of Canada to consider a short extension of its contribution."

Specifically, it asks that Canada continue full operations until Sept. 15, and then more limited operations until Oct. 15 as the Canadians draw down and withdraw to make way for the Romanians.

The unsigned letter goes on to say that "such an approach will bridge the gap" until the Romanian contingent can begin operations.

The UN wanted a response by Friday. A UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities, said the federal government has since asked for a two-week extension.

Officials for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is expected to attend next week's peacekeeping summit in New York, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The federal government previously argued that the UN can fill the gap between the departure of the Canadians contingent and arrival of the Romanians with civilian contractors, as it has done in the past.

The Liberals also suggested that Canada is actually supporting the UN by sticking to its schedule to end operations at the end of July, while downplaying the UN's concerns about the gap.

"We are confident, and we are hearing from the UN that there is no concern about that gap being a problem," Trudeau told reporters during a visit to the Mali mission in December.

The UN, which has faced shrinking budgets after the U.S. cut its funding to peacekeeping last year, argues that a short extension is more cost efficient given that Canada already has the people and equipment in Mali for the mission.

Contracting civilian helicopters in Mali costs about $1 million per month, the UN official said.

Civilian helicopters also aren't able to provide the same level of comprehensive medical treatment that the Canadians are set up to offer, the UN has said, and are more restricted in when and where they can operate.

NDP defence critic Randall Garrison, who called for the government to extend the mission after visiting Mali last month, said the letter "puts the lie" to the Liberals' arguments for not extending the mission.

He said not extending the mission "puts people's lives at risk in Mali and it puts our international reputation at risk now that we know the UN has formally asked for an extension."

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/un-formally-asks-canada-to-extend-mali-mission-to-prevent-medevac-gap-1.4348261

by **Warrior** Mon 25 Mar 2019, 7:07 pm

EU military wants to partner with Canada in Mali as it races for exit

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press
Published Monday, March 25, 2019 11:20AM EDT

OTTAWA -- As Canada's military mission races to leave Mali and the United Nations pleads for it to stay, the European Union is making a fresh appeal to the Canadian Forces to partner with it in the West African country.

Gen. Esa Pulkkinen, director general of the EU's military staff, told The Canadian Press that he has asked the Canadian government to bring its military training expertise to Mali as part of a broader effort to stamp out Islamic extremism in Africa's Sahel region.

Pulkkinen said he's aware of the context of his request -- it comes as Canada faces pressure from the UN to extend its Mali peacekeeping mission in order to bridge a gap until Romanian replacements can arrive.

But he says Canada would make a great bilateral partner with the EU's military training efforts in West Africa, which he says are crucial to stamping out security threats to Europe.

Those threats include the mass northward migration to Europe, an increase in the smuggling of arms, drugs and human trafficking, as well as terrorism.

Pulkkinen was in Ottawa this past week, and said he was planning to make a formal request to Canadian officials after raising the matter informally.

"I need brains. I don't need the quantities," he said.

"Your officer training is top level in the world. More importantly, you have French language skills as well, which we need when we provide advice for our Malian friends."

Pulkkinen already commands 1,000 troops in Somalia, the Central African Republic and Mali, and is partnering with the United States on various missions on the continent. He said the EU wants to ramp up its presence in Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad as well.

Joining forces with Canada would be a natural fit, he noted, because the EU mission is predicated on the same shared values.

"We try to find other partners that share the same universal Western values as we have. They are very important when you provide education for our African troops," Pulkkinen said.

"The same understanding of the respect of human rights and other issues -- you name it."

But the mission will be a tough sell for the EU.

Canada is in the final throes of withdrawing its eight helicopters and 250 military personnel from Mali, where they have been providing emergency medical evacuations and transporting troops and equipment across the vast country.

The drawdown has moved the UN to formally ask Canada to extend its mission in what appears to be a final effort to prevent a gap in military medical evacuations for wounded peacekeepers and UN staff.

The UN sent a formal request, in writing, to the federal government late last month after months of behind-the-scenes prodding got them nowhere with Ottawa.

The letter marks an unusual step: the UN usually only makes such requests if it believes it stands a good chance of a positive response, which in this case is far from certain.

The government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has repeatedly played down the gap it would be creating by leaving Mali on schedule.

Pulkkinen's request on behalf of the EU will only increase the pressure on the Trudeau government, which has faced criticism for what has been seen as a relatively weak return to the business of UN peacekeeping due to the Mali mission's modest scope. The Liberals made peacekeeping a signature foreign policy promise during the 2015 federal election.

Canada will face pressure this coming week when the UN hosts a major peacekeeping summit in New York, the first one since Vancouver hosted a similar gathering in November 2017.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to attend next week's peacekeeping summit in New York, but her office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/eu-military-wants-to-partner-with-canada-in-mali-as-it-races-for-exit-1.4350592

by Caliber Tue 26 Mar 2019, 8:41 am

Canadian peacekeepers evacuated injured French counter-terror troops in Mali

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, March 26, 2019 5:47AM EDT

OTTAWA - Canadian peacekeepers were called upon to evacuate several wounded French soldiers in Mali earlier this month after their patrol was ambushed while hunting for militants along the border with Niger.

The previously unreported incident marks the first time the Canadians have been asked to help non-United Nations forces in Mali, where the French have been conducting counter-insurgency operations since 2014.

Canada has eight helicopters and 250 military personnel in Mali, where they have been providing emergency medical evacuations and transporting troops and equipment across a large swath of the remote African country.

The Canadians have conducted seven other medical evacuations since August, all of which involved injured UN troops and workers.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, the commander of Canada's task force in Mali said the UN and France have agreed to help each other in extreme circumstances and that his peacekeepers did their jobs by helping save lives.

“I wouldn't want people to presume or assume that we're supporting counter-terrorism efforts,” said Col. Travis Morehen. “But it's really at this point about saving allied lives.”

News of the French evacuation comes as the federal government is contemplating a formal UN request to extend its peacekeeping mission in Mali, which is currently set to end at the end of July.

France has about 3,000 heavily armed soldiers in Mali and the surrounding region hunting militants linked to al-Qaida, the Islamic State and other extremist groups through what is known as Operation Barkhane.

While Operation Barkhane has been credited with keeping the numerous Islamic extremist groups in Mali off balance, it has also been accused in some corners of contributing to instability in the region.

According to media reports, a French patrol was operating near Mali's border with Niger on March 10 when they were ambushed by a vehicle packed with explosives and a group of militants on motorcycles.

Fifteen French soldiers were reportedly injured, two seriously, before the militants fled.

The Canadians first learned about the attack when a French officer at the Operation Barkhane camp in Gao called while it was still happening and indicated an emergency medical evacuation might be required, said Morehen.

The French counter-terror mission operates largely independently from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, but Morehen says there is a good working relationship between the two.

That includes the French providing air-traffic control services to the UN around Gao, the northern Malian city that is home to several military bases, including one belonging to Barkhane and another where the Canadians are located.

The French also boast a more capable hospital than the UN, Morehen said, which is why the Canadians often end up bringing any wounded peacekeepers that they pick up in the field to the Barkhane camp.

“So our pilots go over there and make sure that we have our flying procedures correct and we have a technical arrangement with them as well for medical support,” Morehen said.

“There's lots of sharing between us, which is all blessed by our governments.”

Three Canadian helicopters were quickly deployed with approval from the UN mission commander in Bamako, Morehen said, and arrived at the scene about two hours later, at which point the fighting was over.

Because of the distance, the two smaller Griffon escorts were redirected to a nearby town to refuel while the larger Chinook, which is configured like a flying hospital, continued back to Gao alone with the injured French soldiers.

“It does increase the risk,” he said, “but we balanced it against the need to get those wounded back to medical facilities as soon as possible.”

While he agreed that it was “the right thing to do,” Walter Dorn, an expert on peacekeeping at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, said the evacuation nonetheless risked linking the UN and French missions in some minds.

“The risk is that we are associated with Barkhane and we then become subject to more attacks and the line between peacekeepers and counter-insurgency fighters is blurred,” Dorn said.

Morehen pushed back against such suggestions, insisting the evacuation was an extremely rare circumstance and that anyone who wants to target the UN - which has suffered dozens of casualties in Mali - will do so no matter what.

“The people that want to do people harm here, they've already got it formulated in their mind,” he said. “I don't see how fathomable it is that we would be targeted because we gave a medevac to French forces.”

https://www.cp24.com/news/canadian-peacekeepers-evacuated-injured-french-counter-terror-troops-in-mali-1.4351920

by Terrarium Tue 26 Mar 2019, 8:43 pm

NDP want Mali mission extended to meet UN request

By Charlie Pinkerton. Published on Mar 26, 2019

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The NDP is calling for the federal government to extend its mission in Mali to October to meet a request made by the United Nations, even though the government has said it plans to stay in the West African country only until mid-summer.

The Canadian Press reported late last week that the UN had asked Canada to keep its forces in Mali until October, when their Romanian replacements will arrive.

Since the Mali mission was announced, the Canadian government has maintained that it will end at the end of July 2019. A task force, comprising about 250 Canadian soldiers and eight helicopters, is stationed in a UN base in Mali’s heavily conflicted northern region. It’s been providing medical evacuations, as well as transporting ammunition and other supplies.

Global Affairs Canada announced at the end of January that Canada’s forces would be leaving Mali at the date originally promised.

In a news release at the time of the announcement, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada looks “forward to continuing to work with the UN, Romania and many other NATO allies to ensure a smooth transition in 2019.”

NDP defence critic Randall Garrison said if Canada withdraws from the country in the summer, it risks both lives and Canada’s reputation as a peacekeeper.

“Leaving our friends and allies without essential medical evacuation and transportation for three months drastically limits the capacity of the UN mission,” Garrison said in a news release.

The Canadian Press reported that the UN asked Canada to continue its full operations until Sept. 15, before shifting to limited operations until Oct. 15.

The UN hired a civilian helicopter company that flew Russian helicopters while Canada transitioned into its role in Mali, in order to ensure that aeromedical airlifts weren’t interrupted.

The UN is holding its 2019 Peacekeeping Ministerial on Friday in New York. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is expected to attend.

https://ipolitics.ca/2019/03/26/ndp-want-mali-mission-extended-to-meet-un-request/

by RevForce Fri 29 Mar 2019, 4:52 pm

Canada asks UN for more time to decide whether to extend Mali peacekeeping mission

Request comes as Canada co-chairs an international peacekeeping summit starting Friday at UN headquarters

Melissa Kent · CBC News · Posted: Mar 29, 2019

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Canada has asked the United Nations for an extension of two weeks to decide whether to keep its peacekeepers and helicopters on the ground in Mali beyond its July 31 departure date.

In a letter dated Feb. 26, the UN urges the Liberal government to continue providing critical evacuation and logistical support to the UN mission in Mali until Romanian replacements are on the ground on Oct. 15. The letter also asked for a formal response by March 22 — last Friday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government replied with a request of its own. It asked for a two-week extension, according to two UN officials familiar with the dossier.

Ottawa is contributing two CH-147 Chinook transport helicopters for logistical support and medical evacuations, as well as four armed CH-146 Griffon helicopters to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission Mali (MINUSMA).

It also has up to 250 flight crew, medics and support personnel working out of MINUSMA's base in Gao, in northeast Mali.

In the letter, obtained by CBC News, the UN asks Canada to maintain full capacity until mid-September which would include transporting troops and supplies, then scale back to provide strictly medical evacuations for the final month until the new aviation unit arrives from Romania.

Bucharest will deploy four IAR 330L Puma medium-utility helicopters to Gao, which can be armed for self-defence purposes.

Canadian planes are 'quite valuable for us'
Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the head MINUSMA, said it would be "a shame" if the Canadians left before the Romanians are in theatre.

Helicopters are critical to the success of any peacekeeping operation but especially the UN stabilization mission in Mali, said Annadif.

MINUSMA troops are dealing with a vast and diverse terrain as well as terrorist threats which show no sign of abating, creating new offshoots of violence among non-jihadist groups. The UN said the fight against violent extremism is being used as a pretext by ethnic militia groups to go after unrelated threats — real and perceived.

On Saturday, gunmen attacked a predominantly Muslim village in Central Mali killing more than 150 people, one-third of them children.

Launched in 2013, MINUSMA is the deadliest current UN mission, with more than 190 peacekeepers killed.

Annadif said the Canadian air assets come with a military capability and an operational flexibility that private contractors don't have in conflict zones.

''The Canadian helicopters have the advantage of night flight capability and they come already configured with medical equipment and personnel,'' said Annadif.

They are also called upon to help civilians and aid workers in Mali, which means they are in the air every two or three days on average, according to Annadif. ''So really these are planes which are quite valuable for us.''

While Ottawa is supplying transport and evacuation capabilities, the small Central American nation of El Salvador has three U.S.-built MD500 attack helicopters flying out of Gao, providing ground troops with aerial cover.

The deputy military adviser at El Salvador's mission to the UN said his country, which has been in Mali since 2015, will be staying on to work with the Romanians. El Salvadorian officials hope Canada will stay on a little longer.

"We have a very good teamwork," said El Salvador's Lt.-Col. Franklin Rodas about operating alongside Canadian peacekeepers.

After Saturday's attack in Mali's Mopti region, the UN said MINUSMA provided air support to deter further attacks and assisted with the evacuation of the injured.

Peacekeeping summit
Canada is co-chairing an international peacekeeping summit which gets underway at UN headquarters in New York City Friday. Some 45 defence and foreign affairs ministers are scheduled to speak, including Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

According to a document shared with member states ahead of the gathering, MINUSMA is currently facing several critical operational gaps. Among the shortfalls, it needs helicopter units at its bases in Kidal and Mopti, 200 mine-resistant vehicles, and a francophone police unit in the capital, Bamako.

There is speculation at the UN on whether Canada will use the peacekeeping pledging conference to make a formal announcement regarding its future in Mali.

Despite the UN plea, and political pressure at home with the NDP insisting the helicopters remain until replacements arrive, the Liberal government has remained steadfast in its assertion the mission will end in July.

Following a request from CBC News, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said Ottawa welcomed Romania's pledge.

"Canada is making a difference in the region through the Air Task Force with the UN peace operation in Mali currently," Global Affairs said. "We look forward to continuing to work with the UN, Romania and many other allies to ensure a smooth transition in 2019.''

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mali-un-peacekeeping-canada-extension-1.5076074

by Sandman Fri 29 Mar 2019, 8:30 pm

Canada touts its participation in Mali mission at UN — but shoots down idea of extending it

Ottawa has turned down a UN request to stay until October

Murray Brewster · CBC News · Posted: Mar 29, 2019

Mali Mission - Page 10 Cda-peacekeeping-20190322

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mali-mission-canada-freeland-1.5077710

by Armoured Mon 01 Apr 2019, 7:04 pm

Mali worsens as Canada eyes mission finish line
By Charlie Pinkerton. Published on Apr 1, 2019

Mali’s state of security is worsening, according to the latest report of the United Nations (UN) secretary-general, at a time when Canada’s forces are four months from ending their mission in the country for good.

“The security situation in northern Mali remained complex, while it continued to deteriorate in the Centre and in Koulikoro region in the West,” says the report about the early months of 2019, which was published last week. “Attacks by terrorist groups continued to target Malian defence and security forces, (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) MINUSMA and international forces.”

Canada’s force of 250 soldiers and eight helicopters have been part of MINUSMA since last summer. They’re providing medical evacuations and other types of airlifts.

In total, there have been more than 16,000 personnel deployed to the mission in total from all countries this year, according to the UN’s own figures. The Mali mission has been the most dangerous UN mission since it was started six years ago. Almost 200 peacekeepers have been killed in action since then.

In the last three months, which the latest secretary-general report covers, Malian forces were the target of most attacks. 49 soldiers were killed and another 49 were injured, compared to 28 killed and 47 injured during the previous three months. Though they weren’t the primary target, civilians were killed most in attacks last year. Of the almost 600 total killed victims in attacks in 2018, 234 were civilians, which is almost three times as many who were killed in 2017.

The human rights and humanitarian situations in Mali also worsened over the last three months. The UN secretary-general counted 79 human rights abuses involving at least 422 victims, including at least 24 women and 11 children, compared to 90 cases involving 163 victims in the three months before. As of February, 123,000 people were displaced inside Mali, compared to 40,000 at the same time last year. Of Mali’s population of 18.5 million (which it was in 2017, according to the World Bank), 2.4 million people needed food assistance and 7.2 million people remained vulnerable to climate-induced shocks, like land degradation and extreme rainfalls.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed on Friday that the Canadian Armed Forces would not be extending its mission past its planned July 31 departure, which the UN had requested. The UN had asked that Canadian forces remain in Mali in a limited capacity until mid-October when their Romanian counterparts would be capable of replacing them.

“We said that we would be in Mali for a year, and that’s a commitment that we will keep,” Freeland told reporters on a conference call after last week’s UN ministerial peacekeeping conference on Friday.

This government has maintained the need to serve the UN with “Smart Pledges” to eliminate critical gaps, where it feels it can bring the most value to UN deployments.

The secretary-general report says the UN is “approaching” full operational capabilities but its available military aviation assets are among its shortfalls.

In a statement on Monday, a spokesperson for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said “Canada is making a difference in the region through the Air Task Force with the UN peace operation in Mali.”

“We welcome the commitment of Romania to replace our Canadian Air Task Force in MINUSMA,” said Sajjan’s press secretary Todd Lane.

“Romania’s commitment to replace Canada is an example of the continuing close cooperation among allies to deliver critical capabilities to the UN, in line with the “smart-pledging” approach, which ensures countries’ contributions match real needs on the ground.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with the UN, Romania and many other allies to ensure a smooth transition,” he added.

https://ipolitics.ca/2019/04/01/mali-worsens-as-canada-eyes-mission-finish-line/

by Marshall Sun 07 Apr 2019, 8:35 am

OPINION

Canada should extend its Mali mission - April 7, 2019

Before Justin Trudeau starts piling on the promises for this year's federal election campaign, he should remember the unkept pledges from last time around.

And among the more significant promises the prime minister has failed to honour is the one to bring back Canada's peacekeeping days of glory. Since taking office nearly four years ago, the Liberals have delivered on only one major United Nations peacekeeping mission out of a much longer list of commitments.

That mission saw the deployment of eight Canadian Forces helicopters and 250 military personnel to the war-torn West African nation of Mali almost a year ago to provide emergency medical evacuations to injured peacekeepers and UN staff.

What Canada delivered, however, was much smaller than Trudeau's original, much grander peacekeeping plans. In August 2016, the Liberals said they intended to free up as many as 600 troops and 150 police officers for UN peace support. The Mali mission was not even half that size.

But what calls the Liberals' true commitment to peacekeeping even more into question is the government's troubling decision late last month to end the Mali mission after just one year, even though the UN is begging it to keep the Canadian contingent there just a few months more.

In announcing that Canada will withdraw from Mali this summer, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland insisted Canada would leave that troubled nation after 12 months because it had committed only to 12 months. Case closed.

Yet surely this is one occasion where flexibility is appropriate. Surely a brief extension of the Mali mission is justified.

As of this moment, Canada will pull its forces out of Mali on July 31. However, their Romanian replacements won't be ready to take over until mid-October. This is why the UN asked the Liberals to consider a short extension of Canada's contribution. Full operations would continue until Sept. 15 and more limited operations until the Romanians arrived.

This is a reasonable request. In opposition as well as their early days in power, Trudeau's Liberals insisted their priority was peacekeeping, as opposed to entangling Canada in military interventions in dangerous war zones. At the time, it was clear Trudeau was trying to brand the Liberals as the party of peace in sharp contrast to the supposedly belligerent Conservative government that had sent Canadian forces into a shooting war in Iraq.

Think back to late 2015 when Trudeau told our international allies that, "Many of you have worried that Canada has lost its compassionate and constructive voice in the world over the past 10 years," before adding, "Well … we're back."

Trudeau has not translated his words into action. The UN repeatedly asked for Canada's help in Mali years ago but was rebuffed in August 2016. It took nearly two more years for Canada to respond. Then, there was the part-time deployment of a Canadian Forces cargo plane that was expected to support UN missions in Africa in early 2019. Late last month, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Canada is still "working to finalize the concept."

Canada's broken peacekeeping promises in Mali will irritate the UN, according to Walter Dorn, a professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada. Even more significant, he says, is the fact that when Canada pulls out of Mali, the number of Canadian peacekeepers in the field will drop to a new, all-time low.

That will certainly disappoint many Canadian voters. But more important, it says this country's commitment to bring peace to innocent people threatened by violence is hollow.

https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/9270391-canada-should-extend-its-mali-mission/

by Cypher Mon 08 Apr 2019, 9:22 pm

UN warns peacekeeping in Mali will be hurt if Canada doesn't extend mission

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
Published Monday, April 8, 2019 1:50PM EDT
Last Updated Monday, April 8, 2019 5:05PM EDT

OTTAWA -- Marking the 25th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, a Liberal MP has called his government out for not doing more on peacekeeping as the United Nations is warning it will be forced to curtail its efforts in Mali unless Canada extends its mission there by several months.

While the Trudeau government insists it stands with the UN, Liberal backbencher Rob Oliphant told an all-party press conference that Canada is not pulling its weight.

"Canada's peacekeeping operations pale in comparison to those offered by many African countries," said the Toronto MP, who recently visited Rwanda as co-chair of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association. "When you look at what Ethiopia contributes, what Kenya contributes, what Ghana contributes, what Rwanda contributes, Canada is not pulling its weight."

The Rwanda genocide unfolded over 100 days starting on April 6, 1994, with Hutu extremists slaughtering 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and their Hutu supporters.

It was a horror that Canadian general Romeo Dallaire, then the commander of UN peacekeepers, was powerless to prevent despite his repeated warnings and pleas for help to UN headquarters in New York.

Even as Oliphant and others on Monday were commemorating that genocide, the questions and concerns were emerging about Canada's mission in Mali -- and the Trudeau government's commitment to the UN, which has been trying since 2013 to protect civilians and stabilize a government weakened by a rebellion and a subsequent military coup.

Canada has eight helicopters and 250 military personnel in the West African country, where they are scheduled to provide emergency evacuations to injured peacekeepers and workers until July 31. But Romanian replacements aren't due until mid-October -- three months later.

The UN can contract civilian helicopters and aircrews, which the report describes as the "white fleet," but officials said it would be at "disproportionate expense to the UN" and provide less support than the Canadians do.

"They explained that military helicopters and aircrews can fly at night and can operate in riskier and more dangerous environments than their civilian counterparts because they are armed and use more sophisticated technology," the report says.

"The committee was told that, in an effort to limit risks to UN personnel, the UN would likely have to scale down operations during the capability gap between the Canadians' departure from, and the Romanians' arrival in, Mali," it continues. "It was explained that, without an aeromedical capability, UN ground troops would have to significantly reduce the range of their patrols, as well as the services they provide in the communities."

The UN formally requested at the end of February, after months of quiet lobbying, that Canada extend its mission in Mali until mid-October to prevent a gap. But Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland indicated two weeks ago that would not happen.

The government has offered little explanation for its decision, but the committee report suggests military officials are worried about the helicopters' mechanical condition and want them ready for crises back home.

Conservative defence critic James Bezan said in an interview that Canadian Forces members underscored the challenges that would come with an extension and the impact it would have on the troops and the helicopters.

Liberal and Conservative committee members ended up recommending the government stick with its original timetable and instead work with the Romanians to speed up their arrival.

But NDP defence critic Randall Garrison, who has been pushing for an extension, said the military was clear that it would be able to manage if the government did decide to keep its members in Mali past July -- and not staying would put people's lives at risk.

"If we were talking about an extension of another year or two years, I think those may be valid concerns," he said. "But nothing we heard in the field confirmed those kinds of concerns would be an obstacle to the short extension that the UN is asking for."

Both Bezan and Garrison said the fact the Liberals are willing to leave despite the United Nations' very real concerns raises questions about the government's self-professed commitment to peacekeeping and the UN.

"They never bought into their own rhetoric," Bezan said.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/un-warns-peacekeeping-in-mali-will-be-hurt-if-canada-doesn-t-extend-mission-1.4370811

by Caliber Tue 09 Apr 2019, 1:40 pm

Why the end of Operation Presence couldn’t come at a worse time for the UN in Mali

The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali is at a critical juncture, making Canada’s refusal to fill a logistical gap even more disappointing, argues Ousmane Diallo.

BY: OUSMANE ALY DIALLO / APRIL 9, 2019

On July 31, Operation Presence, Canada’s year-long contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), will come to an end.

Ottawa has denied the UN’s repeated requests for the extension of the mission until October 2019, when the Romanian contingent that will deliver similar services is expected to take over. The three-month gap due to planning challenges between troop-contributing countries (TCCs) means that the deadliest UN peacekeeping mission in the world’s ability to facilitate medical evacuations and transport blue helmets will be severely hampered.

MINUSMA is expected to do a lot with increasingly reduced means. Overwhelmed by a jihadist insurgency in Mali’s northern and central regions, the mission has also to contend with a delayed peace process, and the frustration of local and international partners. The request for the extension of Operation Presence in order to fill a critical gap is no doubt low on its list of priorities, but Canada should worry about the signal it is sending about its commitment to global security, when the scale of the mission and the challenges in Mali are taken into perspective.

There is a dissonance that the government needs to address. The emphatic declarations on the importance of UN peacekeeping and multilateralism is belied by its reluctance to commit when pressed upon by bilateral partners; a paradox that ultimately reflects the lower priority of UN peacekeeping in Canada’s foreign policy interests. Support for the UN mission in Mali was expected following the election of the Liberal government, based on campaign rhetoric on the necessity of multilateralism and returning the country’s presence to the global stage.

The first glimpses of what this support would consist of were first announced in March 2018, when Canada, pressured by European allies, committed to replace the German-Belgian helicopter task force in Gao, which provided logistical support to MINUSMA. This move was in line with the country’s smart pledges towards UN peacekeeping. Canada and several other countries pledged to support peacekeeping operations through highly-skilled contributions, such as troops and supply transport and medical support. In July 2018, Canada joined 56 other TCCs to MINUSMA when the first troops arrived in Gao. Operation Presence has filled a critical capability gap for MINUSMA, facilitating the deployment of troops and a 24/7 medical evacuation of wounded peacekeepers and civilians. Between July 2018 and March 2019, the Canadian contingent has conducted eight medical evacuations from its base in Camp Castor. These are all decisive for MINUSMA’s success, but they pale in comparison to the scale of the UN presence in Mali (16,000 members, civilian and uniformed) and the challenges it faces in this theatre.

In fairness, Operation Presence was always meant to be a one-year project. It was planned accordingly, with two six-month rotations between different units of the Canadian Armed Forces. The Edmonton-based 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron operated the Griffon helicopters between July 2018 and January 2019, before handing over to the Valcartier-based 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron for the last six months of the mission. The Chinook task force operated around the same basis, with two rotations between the Petawawa-based 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron. And beyond the troop contribution to MINUSMA, Canada is among Mali’s top providers of official development assistance and humanitarian assistance, on par with France in 2016-7. Mali is also by far the main beneficiary of Canada’s Peace and Stabilization Operations Programs through bilateral and multilateral partnerships (including via MINUSMA).

"Peacekeeping only works when all partners are ready to go an extra mile for the success of the mission, despite the political costs."

Yet this development assistance stands in contrast with Ottawa’s reaction to the UN’s request to extend Operation Presence until October 2019. If a short extension conflicted with the planning of the mission — since the next rotated troops may not have had enough time to acclimatize to the operational environment in Gao before their withdrawal — another six-month troop rotation could have filled a critical gap for MINUSMA and allowed for a proper handover to the Romanian contingent. Logistics, however, are likely not the only factor. With an upcoming federal election, it is possible the Liberals do not want a military presence in Mali — albeit low-risk but much criticized by the opposition — to become a topical issue. But the rationale could be even more basic: the contribution to MINUSMA is simply not a high priority for Canada, especially when compared to its partnerships with NATO. Canada has repeatedly extended its contribution to NATO tactical battlegroups in the Baltic countries and in Iraq, following requests by allies.

Contributing to the debates on reforming peacekeeping may be a higher priority than facilitating MINUSMA’s operations. In the latest Canadian defence policy released in 2017 — Strong, Secure, Engaged — Canada committed to strengthening international peacekeeping by contributing troops and providing training for peace operations, by supporting reform to UN peacekeeping, and advancing the role of women and youth in the promotion of peace and security. The government has not really been clear about how it will operationalize those objectives, despite its leading role in the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations and the Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention on the Recruitment of Child Soldiers.

There are planning and coordination challenges in UN peacekeeping operations that need to be addressed. But peacekeeping only works when all partners are ready to go an extra mile for the success of the mission, despite the political costs. Canada’s intransigence towards MINUSMA stems more from its desire to minimize troop contributions, and from a higher interest in reforming UN peacekeeping, than from any logistical challenges that might be caused by an extension of its presence in Mali. That Canada had to be pressured by European countries into contributing to MINUSMA in the first place was already disappointing, but the decision not to extend its presence in order to support the UN troops in a low-risk and seriously needed operation is even more so. The slow deployment of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers to support the training of the Malian police forces through MINUSMA and the EU Capacity Building Mission in Mali will be overshadowed by this.

MINUSMA remains dependent on the pledges of TCCs with more developed militaries for logistical operations. That the Dutch and German extended their operations in Gao when requested could have generated the same expectation from Canada. To fill the gap over the summer, MINUSMA will likely contract civilian helicopters to conduct troop transportation and medical evacuations, as it did last year for one month between the German-Belgian withdrawal and the Canadian arrival. This seems to be the option favoured by Ottawa, even though the ability of civilian helicopters to provide transport and medical facilities does not come to the level of the versatility of military helicopters. And the gap will be longer this time and occurs when MINUSMA’s spending comes under scrutiny from UN Security Council members frustrated with the lack of progress of the peace process in Mali.

The UN presence in Mali is at a critical juncture. MINUSMA’s ability to “stabilize” Mali is being seriously questioned with just a few months left to go before the end of its current mandate, in June 2019. The United States has reduced its contribution to the UN peacekeeping budget over the last two years, but was not successful in its push for a six-month renewal of MINUSMA’s mandate, instead of the traditional one-year. The goal of this bid was to force the mission and the signatories to deliver the provisions of the 2015 Mali peace agreement at a faster rate.

The same impatience was also apparent during consultations regarding the future of the mission in late March, when the US lamented the slow pace of the peace process and called for a major reconsideration of MINUSMA’s mandate. This view, however, obscures the role of signatory parties in delaying the implementation of the agreement, and overestimates MINUSMA’s abilities.

In this context, Canada’s position regarding the extension of Operation Presence couldn’t come at a worse time for MINUSMA. But it is also illustrative of the dissonance between the rhetoric and the practice of Canada over how it aims to actualize its policies on international peacekeeping. Once again, the expectations generated were greater than the political will.

https://www.opencanada.org/features/why-the-end-of-operation-presence-couldnt-come-at-a-worse-time-for-mali/

by **Navigator** Tue 30 Apr 2019, 8:17 am

Military advisers ensure that Canadian troops in Mali consider female perspectives when planning and conducting operations

GLORIA GALLOWAY PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER
PUBLISHED April 29, 2019

Mali Mission - Page 10 KC672T4N5ZBZHNCXYELLHA2574

The UN gender-adviser position recognizes that armed conflict affects men and women differently.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-military-advisers-ensure-that-canadian-troops-in-mali-consider-female/

by Garrison Fri 14 Jun 2019, 7:10 pm

Liberals push end of Mali peacekeeping mission to August, but not as long as UN wanted

June 14, 2019

Mali Mission - Page 10 Cpt113-the-canadian-press

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/liberals-push-end-of-mali-peacekeeping-mission-to-august

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