An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir September 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie 16 | by BERTy EGERTON A gwanit, Mijek, Tifariti, bir lehlou, these are just some of the places that Irish soldiers have been serving in as part of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). however, chances are that most readers of An Cosantóir have never heard of these places for this is one of the UN's least-known peacekeeping missions; yet it dates back to 1991. Currently there are three Defence Forces officers serving as unarmed military observers (UNMOs) with the mission. Their roles vary from day to day and include daylight patrols, night listening patrols, and witnessing and documenting the destruction of munitions and mines. The aim of this article is to inform the reader about this little-known mission from the perspective of the UNMOs, Comdt Frank Colclough, from Kilkenny, and Capts Phillip Quinlan and Stephen O'Byrne, both from Dublin. comdt Frank colclough "In November 2014 I was appointed Senior Irish Officer for the Defence Forces' three-man military observer contingent to MINURSO. The deployment is for a six-month tour of duty in Western Sahara. This is my seventh tour of duty overseas, having served in UNIFIL (three tours), EUFOR, KFOR, and one other observer mission, UNIKOM. "All three Irish UNMOs deployed in early January to the mission which is composed of personnel from 34 countries. Only the Irish, French and German contingents deploy for a six-month tour of duty, all other nationalities deploy for one year. "The diversity of nationalities, cultures, traditions, and religions is quite unique for such a small UN mission, composed of 218 military personnel from the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Far East. "All UNMOs deploy to one of the nine team sites, which cover an area of 266,000 sq km of desert, from where the UNMOs carry out the mission's roles to observe the ceasefire, conduct daily patrols, and establish both day and night temporary obser- vation posts in the harsh environment of the desert. It is through these activities, spending two to three months at a time in a team site, that UNMOs develop great friendships and experience different cultures and foods, as well as varying methods of performing and fulfilling our daily operational and administrative tasks. "After our initial induction programme in Mission HQ (MHQ) in Laayounne, Capt O'Byrne was deployed to the western side of the berm, where the Royal Moroccan Army is deployed, and Capt Quinlan and I were deployed to the eastern side of the berm where the Frente Polisario is deployed. (The berm is an sandy bank, or wall, constructed by Moroccan Army engineers and is the demarcation line between the two conflicting parties in Western Sahara.) "I spent the first three months in Team Site Tifariti, in the north-east sector of the Polisario region, only 12km from the Mau- ritanian border and a six-hour drive across varying desert consisting of soft sand, hard sand and very rocky and undulating terrain, to the nearest town of Smara. Following that I have spent the last three-months in the Joint Operations Centre, MHQ. "MHQ brought different experiences, with a much more structured daily routine and set office hours, liaising with the team sites, and dealing with local and international UN staff and the key military figures. "MINURSO works closely with the highest levels of the UN and the Head of Mission and Chief of Mission Support liaise daily in the Joint Operations Centre with UNHQ New York and the Office of DPKO." capt Stephen o'Byrne "Prior to this tour I was working in DFTC TIS in Coolmoney Camp and my previous overseas experience was with KFOR and EUTM Somalia. "MINURSO is based in the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara and its mandate is to monitor the ceasefire between the Moroccan and SADR (Saharan Arab Democratic Republic) armed forces, which has been in effect since September 1991 when hostilities ended after 16 years of fighting. Both sides lay claim to the territory, with Morocco wishing to incorporate it into its territory, while the SADR wish to be recognised as an independent state. "The Royal Moroccan Army (RMA) have built a defensive sand wall, the Capt O'Byrne using the UXO identification chart during EOR training.

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