A Formed Police Unit (FPU) is a law enforcement unit used by some international organizations, such as the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), and African Union (AU), in support of peacekeeping operations. Each FPU is composed of personnel contributed by a member state and deployed under the organization's authority.
Formed Police Units were first used in 1999 with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor. [1]
In 2007, the first all-female FPU – contributed by India – was deployed as part of the United Nations Mission in Liberia. [2] [3] A second all-female FPU was contributed by Bangladesh to the UN mission in Haiti in 2010. [4]
The African Union stood-up its first FPUs in 2012 in support of the African Union Mission in Somalia. [5] Two 140-member FPUs were sent to Somalia that year, one each from Uganda and Nigeria. [5]
As of 2016, there were 71 authorized UN Formed Police Units collectively composed of 10,000 personnel. [1]
A Formed Police Unit is a single-nation contingent composed of approximately 140 personnel. [6] FPUs are typically used during a mission's start-up and surge phases to signal a stronger presence than would be possible with individual police officers. [6] To maximize operational efficiency, single FPUs are composed of police from the contributing country only, instead of from multiple states. [6]
Formed Police Units perform three functions: crowd and riot control, protection of the sponsor organization's facilities and personnel, and support to local police in situations that require additional resources but do not necessitate a military response. [6] In the latter role, armed FPUs act as an intermediate response link between individual police officers who are unarmed and armed military units; according to Kamil Kuć and Walentyna Trzcińska they "work where a show of force is needed, but where the intervention of the army would be excessive". [7] In the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, for instance, the EU FPU is a second-tier response element in Kosovo's three-layer security operation; the first layer is the Kosovo Police and the third layer is the NATO Kosovo Force. [8]
Personnel in FPUs are trained police from their sponsoring country. [7] In addition, prior to deployment, they receive supplementary training dictated by the deploying organization to ensure minimum competency and standardized operating protocols. In the case of UN FPUs, this is generally a 300-hour course covering topics such as defense against IEDs, evacuations, convoy escort procedures, physical security, first aid, and riot control tactics. [7]
The forthcoming Chinese film Formed Police Unit , produced by Andrew Lau and directed by Tat-Chiu Lee, is a fictional account of a Chinese FPU on an overseas peacekeeping mission. [9] [10]
The Italian Armed Forces encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and are also involved in missions and operations abroad as a combat force. Despite not being a branch of the armed forces, the Guardia di Finanza is organized along military lines. These five forces comprise a total of 340,885 men and women with the official status of active military personnel, of which 167,057 are in the Army, Navy and Air Force. The President of the Italian Republic heads the armed forces as the President of the High Council of Defence established by article 87 of the Constitution of Italy. According to article 78, the Parliament has the authority to declare a state of war and vest the powers to lead the war in the Government.
The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces are the military forces of the Kingdom of Morocco. They consist of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Royal Gendarmerie, and the Royal Guard.
Peacekeeping comprises activities, especially military ones, intended to create conditions that favor lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare.
The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Its operations are gradually reducing until Kosovo's Security Force, established in 2009, becomes self-sufficient.
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en République démocratique du Congo, is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was established by the United Nations Security Council in resolutions 1279 (1999) and 1291 (2000) to monitor the peace process of the Second Congo War, though much of its focus subsequently turned to the Ituri conflict, the Kivu conflict and the Dongo conflict. The mission was known as the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo or MONUC, an acronym of its French name Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo, until 2010.
A United Nations Medal is an international decoration awarded by the United Nations (UN) to the various world countries members for participation in joint international military and police operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, and disaster relief. The medal is ranked in militaries and police forces as a service medal. The United Nations awarded its first medal during the Korean War (1950–1953). Since 1955, many additional United Nations medals have been created and awarded for participation in various United Nations missions and actions around the world.
The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is a United Nations peacekeeping force that was established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 186 in 1964 to prevent a recurrence of fighting following intercommunal violence between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to contribute to the maintenance and restoration of law and order and to facilitate a return to normal conditions. Major General Ingrid Gjerde is the current Force Commander of UNFICYP, appointed in 2021, and preceded by Cheryl Pearce (Australia). Assistant Police Commissioner Satu Koivu (Finland) is the current Senior Police Adviser appointed in 2021.
The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003). At its peak it consisted of up to 15,000 UN military personnel and 1,115 police officers, along with civilian political advisors and aid workers.
The United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) was a peacekeeping mission established by the United Nations Security Council in December 1994, and its mandate expired in May 2000. Its purpose was to monitor peace agreements during and after the Tajikistan Civil War. The observers were first deployed in the wake of the ceasefire, in 1994, between the ruling government of Tajikistan, led by Emomali Rahmonov, and the United Tajik Opposition. After the UN-sponsored armistice ended the war in 1997, the UN expanded the mission's original mandate to monitor the peace and demobilization. The mission was headquartered in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The Armed Police Force, Nepal is a land force tasked with counter-insurgency operations in Nepal. It functions as a semi-military wing, and occupies a sort of dual role as both military and law enforcement. Service is voluntary and the minimum age for enlistment is 18 years. Initially founded with a roster of 15,000 police and military personnel, the Armed Police Force was projected to have a corps of 77,117 at the close of 2015.
Pakistan has served in 46 United Nations peacekeeping missions in 29 countries around the world. As of 2023, United Nations (UN) statistics show that 168 Pakistani UN peacekeepers have been killed since 1948. The biggest Pakistani loss occurred on 5 June 1993 in Mogadishu. Pakistan joined the United Nations on 30 September 1947, despite opposition from Afghanistan because of the Durand Line issue. The Pakistan Armed Forces are the sixth largest contributor of troops towards UN peacekeeping efforts, behind Ethiopia and Rwanda.
The African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur was a joint African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission formally approved by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1769 on 31 July 2007, to bring stability to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan while peace talks on a final settlement continue.
The Bangladesh Armed Forces and the Bangladesh Police have been actively involved in a number of United Nations Peace Support Operations (UNPSO) since 1988. Currently Bangladesh is the largest contributor in the UN peacekeeping missions.
Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role of the UN's Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished from peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peace enforcement although the United Nations does acknowledge that all activities are "mutually reinforcing" and that overlap between them is frequent in practice.
Australian military involvement in peacekeeping operations has been diverse, and included participation in both United Nations sponsored missions, as well as those as part of ad hoc coalitions. Indeed, Australians have been involved in more conflicts as peacekeepers than as belligerents; however, according to Peter Londey "in comparative international terms, Australia has only been a moderately energetic peacekeeper." Although Australia has had peacekeepers in the field continuously for 60 years – the first occasion being in Indonesia in 1947, when Australians were among the first group of UN military observers – its commitments have generally been limited, consisting of small numbers of high-level and technical support troops or observers and police. David Horner has noted that the pattern changed with the deployment of 600 engineers to Namibia in 1989–90 as the Australian contribution to UNTAG. From the mid-1990s, Australia has been involved in a series of high-profile operations, deploying significantly large units of combat troops in support of a number of missions including those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Somalia and later in East Timor. Australia has been involved in close to 100 separate missions, involving more than 30,000 personnel and 11 Australians have died during these operations.
India was among the charter members of the United Nations that signed the Declaration by United Nations at Washington, D.C., on 1 January 1942 and also participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco from 25 April to 26 June 1945. As a founding member of the United Nations, India strongly supports the purposes and principles of the UN and has made significant contributions in implementing the goals of the Charter, and the evolution of the UN's specialised programmes and agencies.
The United Nations Police (UNPOL) is an integral part of the United Nations peace operations. Currently, about 11530 UN Police officers from over 90 countries are deployed in 11 UN peacekeeping operations and 6 Special Political Missions. The "mission of the UN Police is to enhance international peace and security by supporting Member States in conflict, post-conflict and other crisis situations to realise effective, efficient, representative, responsive and accountable police services that serve and protect the population".
India has taken part in more than 49 Peacekeeping missions with a total contribution exceeding 200,000 troops and a significant number of police personnel having been deployed and more than 160 Indian peacekeepers have died serving under the UN flag as of September 2022. In 2014 India is the third largest troop contributor country [TCC] with 7,860 personnel deployed with ten UN Peacekeeping Missions of which 995 are police personnel, including the first Female Formed Police Unit under the UN. Even in the year 2024, India has been the biggest contributor of personnel deployed across 12 UN peace-keeping missions across the world. At 5,901, India had sent the highest number of military personnel for United Nations peace-keeping missions as of December 31, 2023, data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Indian Peacekeepers were previously lauded by the UN for their efforts in preventing a carnage in the South Sudan conflict which resulted in the death of two of its soldiers.
Due to the capabilities of the Egyptian Army, its battalions are often selected to participate abroad in to establish stability and peace in tense spots in the world, within the peacekeeping forces. 1,654 individuals currently participate in international missions deployed in several regions and countries in Africa. Egypt is a major troop- and police-contributing country to UN peacekeeping missions: It is the 7th largest contributor overall, the 3rd largest contributor of police, and the 3rd largest contributor of military experts. Egypt is also a major contributor to doctrinal and policy development through its role as the Rapporteur of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (C34), and more recently as a member of the UN Security Council (2016–2017). In Africa, Egypt is a major contributor to the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), including the African Standby Force (ASF) and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC). It is also a member of the AU Peace and Security Council.