Fiji’s expensive peacekeeping junkets
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Here’s a question: why, when Fiji has a couple of appalling hospitals and dreadful health statistics, does it spend a large amount of money keeping ethnic and religious groups in Iraq from killing each other?
And why does Fiji, with its lower gross domestic product per capita than Iraq, spend its own millions tramping Baghdad streets? While it's a shibboleth in Suva that Fiji is enhancing peace, the reality which even the United Nations is recognising, is that peacekeeping forces need to change. But what hasn’t changed is that the UN peacekeeping system depends on poor but willing nations to spend their own resources on distant peoples.
This is partly revealed in Fiji’s government budget which came out last month. Budget details for UN peacekeeping are included, as well as Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) and Fiji Police budgets. Currently Fiji has 350 uniformed personnel (police and RFMF) in five UN peace operations, the largest, with 160, being the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). It's been in the business for 40 years, constantly being underpaid by the UN. Fijians also serve in the non-UN Sinai Multinational Force and Observers.
