28 August 2009 -- UNAMID police received a boost in its deployment of Formed Police Units (FPU) with the arrival yesterday in Darfur of a contingent of 137 police officers from Senegal. They will be joining three officers who arrived as an advance party on 27 June. The unit will be deployed in El Geneina, West Darfur, alongside two Nigerian FPUs already based in the area.

Senegal’s contribution to UNAMID currently includes 19 police advisers as well as a military battalion deployed in West Darfur.

With the arrival of the new unit, UNAMID now has a total of 11 formed police units, with a total strength of 1,534 from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Nigeria, Jordan and Senegal. The Mission is also expecting an Egyptian FPU to be deployed soon and to have some 15 FPUs deployed on the ground by end of December 2009.

FPUs are comprised of police officers who have received specialized training in high-risk operations. Their main task is the protection of civilians, including through conducting community policing, especially in camps housing internally displaced persons (IDPs).

On 31 July 2007, the UN Security Council authorized the establishment of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and that it should consist of up to 19,555 military personnel, including 360 military observers and liaison officers, as well as an appropriate civilian police component of up to 3,772 police personnel and 19 formed police units comprising 140 personnel each.

Meanwhile, 76 police officers from Nigeria and Nepal are presently in Khartoum awaiting deployment to Darfur.

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