Alexaleigh ColonThird Module SeminarMr. Nat Waters10 April 2014United Nations Assistance Mission for RwandaI. Introduction In the early 1990s, the United Nations was sent to the Central African country of Rwanda due to ethnic violence that had erupted after several years of tension between ethnic and political groups. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda hoped to be an objective power to enforce peace between the two groups. UNAMIR's mission, in short, was to stabilize the country by disarming rebels, helping to establish governing power, and protecting its population. However, over the course of their time, the United Nations repeatedly failed to uphold their mission, resulting in the deaths of countless Rwandans, prominent political members, their families, and even some of their own members. In the years that the mission had been running, it seemed as if it had been flooded. All in all, due to total unpreparedness for the events that transpired and terrible communication, UNAMIR was a disappointing failure. Rwanda is a small country that declared independence in 1962 from Belgium. It is approximately 10 square miles and landlocked by the countries Burundi, Zaire, Tanzania and Uganda. (World New Digest) The population is made up of over 7 million inhabitants. The majority is divided into three ethnic groups. About 85% are Hutu, 14% Tutsi and about 1% Twa. They all speak the same language and share similar cultures. In 1956, despite the lack of differences between cultural identities, Belgian authorities insisted that all Rwandans begin carrying identity cards. In this administrative action, the peace between the three groups slowly disintegrated (UNAMIR Context). Soon social barriers were created between them. Ultimately, ... middle of paper ... for every day, the men and women in charge of their safety could not even reach a consensus in considering the situation in Rwanda as a genocide. If they had looked at it that way, their efforts to protect these people would have been a little more convincing. In truth, the mandate was also very vague and left many decisions up to the individual peacekeeper, allowing for the acceptance of moving away or even “fleeing” so as not to interfere with local affairs. The UNAMIR mission can easily be considered a disappointing failure, as it did not complete most of its assigned tasks. In the case of political figures who asked for protection or support from peacekeepers, many of them did not even live to see the next day, as did their families. The United Nations was unwilling to stop or even decrease the number of lives killed in this bloody civil war.