Coronavirus poses big challenges for UN peacekeeping operations

UNITED NATIONS: With 110,000 peacekeepers deployed in more than a dozen countries around a world now ravaged by the coronavirus, the United Nations faces twin challenges: keeping those soldiers safe and, more importantly, persuading governments not to bring them home.

One fear is that of a “stampede effect,” in the words of one diplomat. Countries that have contributed peacekeepers “might have a legitimate concern to the effect of ´I am not staying here´ or ´I am not leaving my men here because if they get infected, they will not be well taken care of,´” the diplomat told AFP. The UN under-secretary general for peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, told AFP Wednesday that as of right now he had not received any requests to withdraw peacekeeping troops because of COVID-19. “It is more essential than ever to press on with our collective commitment to peace,” he said. Preparing for the arrival of the virus in countries with UN blue-helmeted soldiers — and so as to avoid spreading the pathogen — on March 6 the UN stopped rotating its troops in and out of conflict zones where they are trying to keep the peace. This week the UN extended that new policy through June 30, and it now applies to all countries where UN peacekeepers are deployed. For weeks now, the isolation measures applied around the world for people found to be infected with the coronavirus are now also in force at camps where UN soldiers are housed. Precautions have also been taken with UN patrols so that soldiers do not infect each other or local people, UN officials say. Indeed, the organization is keenly aware that UN peacekeepers from Nepal that were deployed to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake infected local people with cholera in an epidemic that went on to claim at least 10,000 lives. “We are making every possible effort to prevent our people from being vectors of contagion,” said Lacroix, citing strict hygiene rules and minimal physical contact with locals.