Bangladesh police: Scintillating role in UN peacekeeping mission

।। Ahmad Alfatah Mugdho ।।

Bangladesh police is the prime law enforcement agency of Bangladesh and it is administered under the jurisdiction of the ministry of home affairs. Bangladesh police which has been conducting pivotal roles in maintaining law and order of the state adeptly has a glorious past related to the liberation war of Bangladesh back in 1971.

Not only inside the territory of our beloved motherland but also Bangladesh police has been proudly serving in the United Nations as one of the leading peacekeeping forces since ages. Bangladesh police has been the 4th Police Contributing Country (PCC) in the world since its inception to serve in various UN missions, with impressive contributions to the UN mandate of 651 staff to date. It all started back in 1989 when Bangladesh police left behind its scintillating chapter by taking part in the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) in an African state called Namibia. Since then, the success stories have conflagrated the fame with the mesmerizing total number of 20,145 personnel in 22 UN missions based on the recent data.

In 2005, Bangladesh police sent specially equipped self-sufficient police units called Formed Police Units (FPUs) to Ivory Coast to ensure peace with utmost competence. Regarding the recent information, Bangladeshi FPUs and UNPOLs with the usual name and fame are currently working in five several missions, MONUSCO (DR CONGO), UNAMID (Darfur, Sudan), UNMISS, UNMHA (Yemen, South Sudan), MINUSMA (South Sudan, Mali). Bangladesh police currently have 49 individual police officers (IPO) operating in 5 different UN peacekeeping missions, 3 police officers operating in P-Level/UN jobs and 599 FPU members serving in 4 formed police units, 652 police officers working in 04 UN peacekeeping missions and UN HQ in total. The Formed Police Units do wear the combat uniform whereas the individual police officers who are serving in the UN mission do wear the regular working dress of Bangladesh police.

The Bangladesh police has already shown expertise in various police fields, such as forensic, foot print, finger print, ballistic, democratic policing, community policing and so on. In addition to demonstrating its capabilities in field missions as an observer, Bangladesh police has also strengthened its capabilities in the United Nations headquarters peacekeeping department.

With utmost sincerity, integrity and commitment, Bangladesh police has performed its duties. They serve to improve the disarmament and reintegration process, to preserve law and order, to protect displaced and distressed individuals, to enable humanitarian assistance and to protect human rights.

Bangladesh police sent one Women FPUs to DR Congo in response to the challenges of implementing the UN Mandate in the field of gender, women and child affairs (MONUSCO). Bangladesh, as a top contributor to the UN peacekeeping operations for female police officers, has become a key partner in the transformation from war to peace. Bangladesh’s female peacekeepers have placed them as a key driving force for reducing gender-based violent acts, conflict and scuffle, providing women and children with a sense of security, mentoring female policemen, promoting equality in the host country, and facilitating social cohesion.

Bangladesh’s female police officers have developed themselves as the style icon in the mission area community. Resultantly, the demand for the Bangladeshi female police officers in the UN peacekeeping operations is rising day by day. Recently, the entire authority of the airport of DR Congo has been operated by the sole lady unit of Bangladesh police who are the first and only female battalion to perform such a task in the UN peacekeeping operations in the entire history of the United Nations.

Deaths are forever unbearable to accept and the dearest ones can only feel the absence of what they have lost when one of their very own gets disappeared for life. The shock of the deaths of our close ones always makes us numb and speechless. 22 brave-hearts have sacrificed their precious life to serve in the UN mission on duty and their courageous acts will be remembered forever in the history of United Nations peacekeeping operation.

The restoration of the rule of law in post-conflict mission areas has become very prevalent over the past decades, as the global community has acknowledged the bolstering of the structure of domestic security and crime prevention as the most important prerequisite for trying to neutralize the conflict within states. The role of the UN police force has been extended from oversight and advisory roles to reforming, restructuring and institutionalizing local policing forces. In the UN peacekeeping operations, the expertise of Bangladesh police in the field of responsive crime control, responsible policing, law enforcement, electoral support has established its importance.

The mandate of the UN police needs to innovate on the basis of the needs of creative strategy scenarios, and the Bangladesh police has to deal with big changes in the UN and hence need to develop the competencies and skills that emphasize the possible challenges of various regions in order to fulfill the needs of the United Nations for ensuring the global peace and security.

In order to ensure quick mobilization, preparation and standing capacity, United Nations troops and financial restrictions could be exposed as major challenges. As such, the Bangladesh police has stressed fast deployment capability and rapid response to developing crises. Because of the various situations in different task areas, the Bangladesh Police is in the process of strengthening its capacity to establish a clear idea and perception of Rules of Engagement (RoE) in order to behave impartially in the face of massive massacres or events in the mission region. It is understood that the police must be mobile, educated, versatile, efficient and sustainable in order to adapt to the threats raised by current conflicts.

The writer is a student of the department of international relations, University of Dhaka