op 18 front pages-converted - The Watson Institute for International ...

from U.N. Military Observers passed on, and questions about
the relative peril to humanitarian operations tackled.
Military expertise was also provided to UNHCR by governments
who lent personnel with special background and
training in matters such as security and logistics. The UNHCR
Special Envoy at one point had five specialists on his staff.
Current or retired army personnel played critical roles in
directing UNHCR convoy operations from Zagreb and
Belgrade. In one instance, a British army officer was assigned
to ODA, which in turn made his services available to UNHCR,
which provided him with the necessary administrative support.
Retired military personnel also signed direct contracts
with U.N. and other humanitarian organizations. As in other
post-Cold War theaters, the phasing down of the world’s
military establishment produced people willing to take on a
new breed of humanitarian challenges.
Second, UNPROFOR troops supported U.N. operations
when requested, usually accompanying UNHCR convoys on
a regularly scheduled basis into insecure areas, particularly in
eastern and central Bosnia. Sometimes troops preceded relief
vehicles, fanning out across a wide area to deter harassment.
When the likelihood of violence was greater, they provided
direct escort. These entourages generally traveled with armored
personnel carriers as the first and last vehicles and one
or more other military vehicles in the middle. During mid-
1993, UNPROFOR escorted about a thousand tons of relief
supplies a day. The amounts slipped by almost half toward
year’s end as violence made major overland supply routes into
central Bosnia more perilous.
Humanitarian officials praised UNPROFOR’s support.
According to one UNHCR logistician, such armed escorts
“faced down” violence. They also discouraged looting, pillaging,
and other harassment of aid operations, random or
planned. The troops also reduced tensions. One military officer
involved told the team, “The fact that we’re there creates
confidence among civilians.” UNPROFOR troops also rescued
aid workers—in one incident saving their lives by shooting
over the heads of their captors. Having military personnel
visible in the area, said one observer, was “a symbol of robustness.”
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