How Did The UN Assume The Role Of Peace-Keepers During The Rwandan Genocide?

The UN assumed the role of peace-keepers during the Rwandan Genocide. By not wanting to spare any of its resources in 1993, the UN only helped to suppress the Rwandan genocide passively and temporarily. The late arrival of personnel, scant resources and a lack of international resolve such as The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), led to a view of the UN as a paper tiger and contributed to the death of half a million people. Additionally, countries apart of the UN played central roles in the genocide such as the US who refused to acknowledge the genocide and the French who supported the Hutu government to indirectly opposed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). The early withdrawal of the UN forces endorsed the genocide offering
The start of the Rwandan Genocide was set into motion after the plane of the Hutu president, Habyarimana was shot down on the 6th of April 1994 supposedly by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) - a Tutsi military organisation. This incident was the catalyst to the overwhelming ethnic violence between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority in Rwanda caused by post-colonial ideals and political instability. Mass killings began immediately (Source C). As the humanitarian issue deteriorated, the U.N. became aware of the extent of ethnic violence in Rwanda but remained complacent and did not intervene ( Source E). Humanitarian organisations such as the Red Cross intervened soon after the start of the genocide. After the late arrival of UN forces, medical resources from the UN were not allocated towards the issue ( Source D). Additionally, it should be noted that the UN had resources to alleviate the effects of the genocide on several levels - medically, politically, logistically and militarily (Source
The UN had created the UNAMIR program to assist the Arusha Accords and protect the capital, Kigali (Source A). The UNAMIR program had not been created to aid a civil war but rather the easing of hostilities. The sudden escalation of the war handed the UN little time to form a strategy (Source B). Given the short notice, the UN did its best to protect the capital of Kigali. Despite the UN’s lack of intervention during the genocide, it was heavily involved in the rebuilding of Rwandan society from 1995 onwards. It aimed to achieve reconciliation and the return of displaced refugees (Source A). Today, Rwanda is acknowledged for the impeccable restoration of its economy and