Australian peacekeepers in Ethiopia and Eritrea 2001 to 2005

Background

Between May 1998 and June 2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea, on the Horn of Africa, fought over disputed border territory. Tensions had been brewing between the 2 countries since Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

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Known as the Badme War for the border town of Badme, the war claimed some 100,000 casualties. More than a million people were displaced.

The war cost billions of dollars – devastating for 2 of the world's poorest countries. It was one of the late 20th century's largest and most expensive conflicts. It was also vicious. As the Ethiopian troops withdrew from Eritrea to comply with a ceasefire, they destroyed entire towns and villages.

United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea

Both countries signed the Algiers Agreement on 18 June 2000, with the help of the Organization of African Unity. The ceasefire included an acceptance by both sides of a TSZ, monitored by UNMOs. A United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force would patrol the zone.

In July, the UN Security Council set up UNMEE, with headquarters in Asmara (Eritrea), and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). The peacekeepers were responsible for a buffer zone about 25 km wide on the Eritrean side of the border.

UNMEE was not responsible for deciding where the border would be. That was controlled by the 4-member Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), based in The Hague. In 2002, the EEBC ruled that Badme was part of Eritrea. Ethiopia refused to agree to this ruling. Tensions escalated and reduced the chance of a peaceful resolution.

Over the next few years, UNMEE faced several challenges:

• Both Eritrea and Ethiopia breached the Algiers agreement, building up their forces near the TSZ.
• In October 2005, the Eritrean government banned UNMEE helicopter observation flights along the border and restricted ground patrols.
• The EEBC confirmed its border ruling and disbanded in 2007, so Eritrea saw the UNMEE mission as an occupying force since the border issue had been legally resolved.
• In December 2007, Eritrea cut fuel deliveries to UNMEE troops on its side of the border, reducing daily patrols and causing safety concerns.

In February 2008, UNMEE evacuated Eritrea and relocated staff to Ethiopia.

On 30 July 2008, the UN Security Council voted to shut down the operation. The last UNMEE peacekeepers left Ethiopia by 15 October.

The fighting between Eritrea and Ethiopia continued for another decade, with Ethiopia finally confirming it would implement the 2000 Algiers Agreement. Both parties declared peace in July 2018.

Operation Pomelo

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The lead-up to Australia's involvement in UNMEE was marked by international political and policy imperatives. Since 1996, Australia had refused multiple requests to be involved in African peacekeeping missions. But Australia's representatives to the UN, Penelope Wensley and Colonel John Cullen, felt this reluctance was affecting Australia's standing in the UN. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer feared it might lead to other countries choosing not to help in East Timor.

There was also a general feeling that joining UNMEE would come with little risk and that it would not be a long commitment. After all, there was a peace agreement in place.

Downer, however, favoured helping the British International Military Assistance and Training Team (IMATT force in Sierra Leone). Other major players, including Defence Minister John Moore and Chief of the Defence Force Admiral Chris Barrie, were also reluctant to join the mission.

These political disagreements meant that it was not until 8 January 2001 that Acting Prime Minister John Alexander agreed to Australia taking part in UNMEE.

Between 2001 and 2005, 16 members of the Australian Defence Force joined UNMEE, under the codename Operation Pomelo.

Each of the 8 contingents consisted of 2 personnel, generally a major and a captain. Notably, Major Michelle Breen became the first female commander of an Australian mission overseas when she led the sixth contingent.

At first, the Australians filled engineering and training officer positions. But from the fourth contingent onwards, a geomatics specialist replaced the engineer.

Engineering officers were responsible for UNMEE infrastructure support such as:

• road and bridge works
• troop accommodation
• helicopter landing pads.

They also helped with humanitarian tasks, including repairing public buildings and improving water storage.

The role of the geomatics specialist came about when surveyor Major Rob Gray joined the fourth contingent. Unlike his predecessors, Gray was not a civil engineer. While he worked in the traditional engineering role, he also used his geomatics skills to map the area.

Geomatic expertise became a much-needed addition to UNMEE, and future Australian contingents provided this expertise.

UNMEE Mission Training Cell (MTC)

Training officers joined UNMEE's Mission Training Cell (MTC). Their role included running drills for peacekeepers on how to deal with:

• landmine incidents
• vehicle accidents
• search and rescue operations
• evacuating sick and injured personnel.

A major threat was the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In the mid-1990s, peacekeepers in different countries were spreading the virus within missions and to their home countries. In 1998, UNAIDS estimated that military personnel were 2 to 5 times more likely than civilians to contract a sexually transmitted infection, including HIV. Globally, the virus infection rate had stabilised by 2000, but it was still rising in Ethiopia. In Eritrea, the rate of infection among sex workers was 22.8%.

In July 2000, the UN passed Resolution 1308, which called for pre-deployment HIV testing and counselling for troops to be deployed in peacekeeping operations.

In response, the MTC ran training aimed at changing the behaviour of the UNMEE military personnel. This included education about the risk of HIV and AIDS in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Other training courses focused on preventing abuse of women and children, as well as women's rights. Differing cultural attitudes among peacekeepers contributed to the need for such training.

Australian withdrawal from UNMEE

Despite UN requests to increase its commitment, Australia stuck to its original plan. The situation was worsening. The eighth Australian contingent operated under increasing security risks.

On 20 December 2004, Major Troy Francis wrote in his commander's diary:

This is the worst situation the mission has seen in many years.

[The Limits of Peacekeeping: Volume 4, The Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations: Australian Missions in Africa and the Americas, 1992–2005.]

He and Captain Robert Brown saw out their deployment. They left Eritrea on 14 February 2005. Australia's commitment to UNMEE ended.

The experience of Major Stuart Brown

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Major Stuart Brown spent 6 months with UNMEE as part of Australia's second contingent. Brown arrived in Asmara on July 1, 2001.

My role was as the first engineer officer... even though I'm a combat engineer officer, it was basically the support engineering side of things that we were looking at. And that was looking at a lot of... construction work that was being done within the mission areas. Looking after a lot of the work that was being done in the staff officers' camp to get it established. Maintenance and engineering maintenance for the, what was known colloquially as the the French camp, then became known as the Irish camp, when the Irish moved into it a lot of work there had to be done.

Brown spoke about how the engineering role was not only building actual bridges, but also building a political bridge between the 2 countries.

And not only did it work in a metaphorical sense, but also in a literal sense where the Mirror Bridge, which is right on the border, was rebuilt. And they had an opening ceremony where both sides attended... They did a great job and had a big ceremony there. And the Mirror Bridge became a focal point that was built on for getting... the peace between the two countries. So not only did we literally build a bridge there, but we also built political bridges between the two countries as well.

Brown touched on the health risks of living in Eritrea.

You didn't drink the local water, you'd only drink bottled, imported bottled water. Even going to the best hotel in in Asmara, which is the Intercontinental, I still had bouts of like, like a type of food poisoning, where you get diarrhoea and vomiting from from eating at that hotel at the restaurants there.

With about 4,000 personnel, UNMEE was one of the biggest UN operations at the time. The Australian contribution of 2 people for each rotation was minimal, but, as Brown says:

Yes, we were only two personnel there at any one time, but the impact that we have, or we have had on the conduct of operations and activities within the headquarters has been, I think, fairly major.

Listen to the full interview with Major Stuart Brown.

Commemoration

National Peacekeepers' Day

On 14 September each year, we observe National Peacekeepers' Day. It's the anniversary of the day Australia became the world's first peacekeepers to deploy into the field, in the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1947. It’s a day to recognise the important work of those who have served, and continue to serve, in the name of global peace.

Learn more about Australia's peacekeeping missions since 1947.

International Day of UN Peacekeepers

29 May is a day of commemoration and acknowledgement of all military, police and civilian personnel who have served as peacekeepers with the UN. Since UN peacekeeping began, more than 4,000 peacekeepers from many countries have lost their lives while performing their duties under the UN flag.