Rwanda

The Australian Contingent 1994-1995

Plot

The account of the deployment of the Australian Contingent in Rwanda in 1994/1995 as part of United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).

In 1990 the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), dominated by Tutsis, invaded Rwanda from Uganda and a three-year civil war ensued. In August 1993 the waring groups agreed to a power-sharing arrangement and a joint Tutsi-Hutu government was formed. In June the United Nations (UN) Security Council had agreed to send a small group of military observers to monitor the Uganda-Rwanda boarder. In August the military observers were replaced with the larger United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). With just over 2,000 personnel, UNAMIR was to supervise the transition from war to peace by monitoring the ceasefire, assisting with demobilisation and mine clearance, and generally facilitate conditions that would allow a transitional government to take over.

Includes Nominal Roll