German peacekeepers warn about weather, isolation and red tape
GAO, MALI — The German helicopter crews being relieved by Canada’s peacekeeping mission in Mali say they have struggled with delays in getting approval for life-saving medical evacuations as pennywise UN officials wrangle over cost.
Some of those delays have lasted hours, they say — time that could mean the difference between life and death for injured peacekeepers in Mali’s harsh environment and barren landscape.
A second contingent of Canadian soldiers flew into the dusty, sun-baked airstrip here Monday to get ready for the arrival next month of the eight helicopters Canada has pledged to the UN mission in Mali for the next year.
As the sweaty Canadians unloaded their gear at a nearby UN base in the surprisingly sticky heat, moving into the tents and barracks that are their new homes, a number of German soldiers sat and watched from the shade.
Germany has a sizable presence at the UN base in Gao that includes a detachment of NH-90 helicopters, bolstered by several similar aircraft from Belgium, for evacuating injured peacekeepers from the field. Those Belgian helicopters were on display Monday as they landed within the fortified perimeter only long enough to take on some fuel before taking off and disappearing into the distance again.
But both Germany and Belgium will officially end their medical-evacuation missions on Saturday, at which point the NH-90s will be packed up and returned home to make way for their Canadian counterparts.
Many of the Germans here previously served in Afghanistan, and while they say there are many similarities, there are also key differences, starting with the fact they have not fired a single shot or taken any fire.
That may seem odd, given the peacekeeping mission’s deadly reputation, but it reflects the fact most of those killed have been blue helmets from less developed countries caught in ambushes and roadside-bomb attacks.
While the Germans and Belgians have not been attacked, they are there to help with the aftermath; over the past 18 months, they have evacuated 43 wounded — peacekeepers from the field over the course of 16 flights.
While the number of flights may not seem high, Col. Andreas Schwartz, one of two emergency physicians responsible for treating patients on the helicopters, says the patient-to-flight ratio far surpasses what was seen in Afghanistan.
“The statistics say that over the last 18 months, we have half the missions but we have to take care of double the patients,” Schwartz said. “With every mission, we have to carry double the patients we had in Afghanistan.”
There are many other differences between the UN mission in Mali and Afghanistan, where NATO was in charge, said Lt.Col. Kai Eggert, chief of operations for the multinational helicopter detachment.
Those include the heat and isolation in Gao, where it can take weeks to get spare parts, a lack of radios among some contingents from less developed countries, and the absence of exchanges of fire.
Yet one of the most surprising differences, says Eggert, has been how the Germans have often been forced to wait hours before the UN headquarters in Bamako gives them permission to fly to the scene of an attack.
The UN has faced more scrutiny than in the past to account for its spending because of past corruption as well as shrinking budgets, particularly as the U.S. has cut its funding for peacekeeping.
The impact is nonetheless clear as the Germans and Belgians have faced waits of up to 17 hours before launching a mission, which Schwartz, in his capacity as an emergency physician, says is “not tolerable.”