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Indonesian Blue Berets consistent
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Indonesian peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) prepare to leave their base for a patrol near Al-Taybe, South Lebanon, 28 August 2009. In 2006, UNIFIL expanded its deployment to Southern Lebanon, a high-tension area near the Lebanon-Israel border (also known as the Blue Line), when the two countries resumed hostilities. (UN Photo/Pasqual Gorriz)
A
s Indonesia is among the major contributors to United Nations peacekeeping operations (UN PKO), cynics may say we are only in it for the money.
However, on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on May 29, Indonesia has every rights to commemorate its contributions to the global operations. Since the 1950s the country has deployed its defense and security personnel to UN peace missions, notably through the Indonesian Garuda Contingent (Konga).
The first Konga mission was in 1957 when the peacekeepers were assigned to assist the ending of the Suez Crisis in which Israel, the United Kingdom and France failed to regain control of the Suez Canal and to oust Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. The 559-strong Konga was deployed to the border of Egypt and Israel and their mission finished successfully.
Despite being largely absent under president Soeharto because of that regime’s focus on internal security, Indonesia amplified its commitment, especially under sixth president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former Blue Beret himself, when our contribution increased from less than 300 to more than 1,500 personnel.
Indonesia has come a long way from its first Konga to the recent posting of our 37th Konga to Central Africa, with additional individual military observers. Under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the government aims to deploy 4,000 peacekeepers by 2019. By then Indonesia would be among the top 10 countries contributing troops and personnel to UN PKOs, up from its current rank of 11th.
In the early 1990s, UN PKO missions were mostly filled by troops from developed countries such as France, the UK and Canada.
However, in the 2000s it became slowly dominated by Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Arguably, there are three reasons behind this trend.
