Canada's Peacekeeping Missions
Canada has fifty years of experience in peacekeeping and has participated in most of the missions mandated
by the UN security council. This ability to count on Canada to help has established an international
reputation. The term peacekeeping did not enter popular use until 1965. Since that time there have been over
fifty UN peacekeeping missions. Canada has participated in more missions than any other country.
RWANDAN CONFLICT
The genocide in Rwanda was ethnically motivated. The causes of this conflict can be traced back hundreds
of years. Rwanda consists of two ethnic groups, the Hutu who make up 85% of the population and the Tutsi
who make up 14% of the population.
Belgian and German colonist around the turn of the century encouraged a two class system in Rwanda
which favored the Tutsi. The Tutsi were given privileges and western style educations.
In the 1950's Hutus started their rebellion against this system which saw them as second class citizens. By
the time Belgium had withdrawn from Rwanda the Hutu had control of the country. This is when the Tutsi
first became victims of racial persecution. Throughout the 1960's they were massacred.
In 1990 rebel Tutsi exiles fought back sparking a six month civil war. In 1991 a cease fire was signed with
the aid of French troops who were called in to help. The civil war didn't really end and tensions in Rwanda
grew.
In 1994 non government organizations who were in Rwanda giving aid started sending there employees
home, feeling that a war was imminent. Many humanitarian organizations appealed to their governments to
help ease the tensions, feeling a war was about to erupt.
On April 6, 1994, the president of Rwanda who was a Hutu was killed when a plane he was on got bombed.
Within hours of this Hutus were on the radio blaming the Tutsi. Know one really knows who bombed the
plane but it has been suggested that it was actually Hutu extremists.
That night the genocide began. Hutu soldiers went house to house killing any Tutsi and moderate Hutus.
Hutu's and Tutsi's look the same except that Tutsi are usually taller, so there was no real way of telling who
was Tutsi and who was Hutu. Children, women and men who were thought to be Tutsi were slaughtered,
usually being hacked to death.
Two weeks later the prim minister and ten Belgian soldiers who were guarding him were killed. The Un
took no action and the slaughter continued. In late June Un finally authorized the deployment of troops into
Rwanda to create a safe zone.
In July the Hutu extremists government was defeated. Tutsi sought revenge and reprise killings spread
throughout Rwanda. The genocide had claimed nearly one million lives. One in sixteen Rwandans was
dead. Today Rwanda is reasonably peaceful however ethnic tensions still exist.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Background:
The main reason for conflict in Bosnia stem from religious and ethnic divisions. The people of Bosnia
consist of Croats, Muslims, and Serbs, who have divided themselves into three camps. However, even these
three groups are not united because many Croats don't share the same religion, and neither do Serbs.
During the war Serbians who opposed Bosnia's independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 began killing Croats
and Muslims. The Serbs especially targeted Muslims and "ethnically cleansed" 1000's of non-christians.
Eventually the Croats and Muslims formed an alliance and gained support of NATO
Canada’s Involvement in the UN Peacekeeping
Missions – a Summary
Canada has always been a strong supporter of the United Nations and of peacekeeping, and has
participated in almost every mission since its inception. Below is a chronology of UN
peacekeeping missions in which Canada was involved.
1950-53: United Nations Service in Korea. Canada sends the 3rd largest contingent to UN
mission in Korea.
1956: Canada’s Minister for External Affairs, Lester B. Pearson proposes to the UN General
Assembly to send a multinational contingent to the Middle East, in response to the Suez Crisis.
This culminated in the first designated UN “peacekeeping” mission.
1956-67: Canada sends a contingent to the UN mission in Egypt to supervise the withdrawal of
French, Israeli and British troops from Egypt.
1957: Lester B. Pearson is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his remarkable diplomatic
achievements and his innovative thinking in resolving the Suez Crisis through the establishment
of a UN Emergency Force.
1960-64: United Nations Operation in the Congo. A Canadian contingent is sent to the Congo.
The mission’s purpose is to restore order in the African nation while assisting in the removal of
Belgium troops.
1991-2003: United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission. Canada sends contingent to
monitor the Knor Abdullah waterway between Iraq and Kuwait. Canada provides mine clearance
and unexploded ordnance disposal duties.
1992-95: United Nations Operations in Somalia. Canada sends contingent to UN mission in
Somalia. This mission produces no political success. As well, the mission gains attention and
becomes a national scandal referred to as “the Somalia Affair” after Canadian soldiers are
convicted of torture, assault and murder of Somali civilians.
1993-96: Rwanda Canada sends contingent to the mission in Rwanda. Canadian Lt.-Gen.
Roméo Dallaire led this mission to supervise the warring Tutsi and Hutu population. This mission
meets significant hurdles as UN troops witness the slaughter of nearly 800,000 Rwandans in
what will later be identified as genocide. Despite specific plans by Lt. General Dallaire to
retaliate upon growing violence, the UN does not agree. This mission is viewed as a significant
failure, resulting in not only the loss of hundreds of thousand Rwandans but also a significant
loss of UN lives.
1995-2002:United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Canada contributes 30 civilian
police.