Mali demands the departure of UN troops

Mali demanded Friday, June 16 within the United Nations Security Council the immediate departure of peacekeepers as part of the United Nations mission on its territory known as MINUSMA.Mali has called on the United Nations to end its decade-long peacekeeping mission in the African country 'without delay', saying international military force has only fueled tensions and instability in this West African country.

“Unfortunately, MINUSMA seems to have become part of the problem by fueling inter-communal tensions [in Mali],” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told a Security Council meeting. He called for the withdrawal of UN troops.The minister pointed the finger at UN troops in order to “sow mistrust among Malian citizens and create a “crisis of confidence” within the government. In response, the head of MINUSMA, El Ghassim Wane, let it be known that it would be "almost impossible" to continue the UN mission in a host country, which no longer tends to extend the mission of the blue helmets.

The UN has until June 30 to extend the deployment, which requires nine votes in favor from the Security Council and no veto from its five permanent members.Relations between Bamako and the UN have deteriorated since 2022; Mali's interim military authorities consequently suspended troop rotations under MINUSMA in July 2022. Bamako attempted to justify its decision, following the arrest of 49 soldiers from Côte d'Ivoire, members of MINUSMA, whom he referred to as "mercenaries". However, Ivorian officials, for their part, denied this accusation, recalling that these Ivorian troops were only acting as part of the peacekeeping mission on Malian territory.

Last August, the Malian government ordered the expulsion of MINUSMA spokesman Olivier Salgado after he publicly declared the addition of soldiers to the UN mission. The head of MINUSMA's human rights office, Guillaume Ngefa Atonodok Andali, was also declared persona non grata in February and asked to leave the country for "destabilizing and subversive actions".

Mali has long been sinking into political instability, notably following two separate coups between 2020 and 2021 and an ongoing terrorist insurgency in the rural northern region of the country. The Tuareg uprising in 2012 resulted in the creation of the UN mission, aimed at strengthening security in Mali, as well as facilitating humanitarian aid and the transition to a civilian government.