Without peacekeeping missions overseas, it is unlikely that Fiji's army would ever have become strong enough to seize power. When the British left in 1970, there were only around 200 serving military personnel. UN peacekeeping operations in Lebanon and Sinai generated a tenfold increase by 1986. The next year, Fiji witnessed its first military coup. Some 20,000-25,000 Fijians have been deployed on UN missions since independence—a lot for a country of fewer than 1m.
…Fiji risks losing around $254m in promised EU aid, badly needed at a time when tourist numbers are declining, the gold industry has collapsed and the country's main export industry, sugar, has stagnated.
All of which gives even greater importance to peacekeeping. Remittances from peacekeepers now make up a big chunk of Fiji's foreign-exchange earnings. And with the demand for their services growing, there is understandable reluctance to limit recruitment. Yet in Fiji, as in Nepal and Bangladesh, two other big contributors to UN peacekeeping, keeping the peace abroad has big repercussions at home.
Another chapter in the big Book of Unintended Consequences.
If this is a trend maybe we can convince Iran and Syria to pony up some peacekeepers...
Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Sept 29 2007
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