[ad_1]
The Defense Forces has requested the urgent evacuation of Ireland’s peacekeeping contingent in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) amid growing fears for their safety during the coronavirus pandemic.
Two Irish army officers are among the almost 12,000 peacekeepers currently deployed to the United Nation’s MONUSCO mission in the central African country.
The Irish officers were due to rotate home as normal at the end of April but this was postponed following a request from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to suspend all peacekeeper rotations to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
It is understood Defense Forces Chief of Staff Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett and his general staff have alerted the Government of fears for the Irish officers’ safety due to growing tensions in the country relating to the pandemic.
The Defense Forces has requested permission to evacuate the officers from the country as soon as possible. It is understood British and Canadian troops have already been removed by their governments.
The Defense Forces has requested permission to deploy the Government jet, which is operated by the Air Corps, to fly the Irish peacekeepers out.
Senior officers have expressed frustration at what is perceived as Government delays in facilitating the removal of the officers, sources told The Irish Times.
The two Irish officers are not based in a secure compound. Instead they live in an apartment in the city of Goma.
“They are very exposed as none of the normal force protections are available to them,” an informed source said.
Mistrust of foreigners, particularly westerners, has been growing in some African countries, including the DRC, since the start of the pandemic due in part to urban myths that westerners are more likely to contract or spread the virus.
The tensions compound an already volatile political and ethic situation in the country.
In the last month some 200,000 people have fled their homes in the eastern DRC due to clashes between government troops and armed groups, the UN said.
“In an already very volatile environment the locals are spooked over Covid-19 and are beginning to blame and target white foreigners,” a source said.
The DRC has reported a relatively low number of Covid-19 infections to date- there have been about 1,200 reported infections and 50 deaths.
However, the country’s health system, which is already struggling to contain outbreaks of measles and ebola, is ill-equipped to deal with the virus and there is fear further spread could have a devastating effect on the region.
The Government jet, a Learjet 45, is one of the few aircraft in the Irish fleet capable of flying to the DRC. Even then it would have to make several refueling stops.
Irish troops are normally rotated from the country on civilian flights but the DRC’s government has banned almost all air travel to and from Europe.
The Department of Defense has been approved for comment.
Irish peacekeepers in Mali and Kosovo have already been rotated home after the Government sought exemptions to the UN’s ban on troop movements. Some 350 Irish personnel in Lebanon are expected to be flown home at the end of June and the start of July.
[ad_2]