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UN Peacekeeping Force – 2002

UNTAET’s mandate ended with the formal independence of East Timor on 20 May 2002. The mission was largely successful, due to both a conducive external environment and the comparatively high level of resources it received, especially when the small size and population of East Timor is taken into account.¹

UNTAET was immediately replaced by the United Nations Mission in Support of East Timor (UNMISET), which was mandated with the following tasks: (a) provide assistance to core administrative structures of the East Timor government, (b) provide interim law enforcement and assist in the development of the East Timor Police Service, and (c) contribute to the maintenance of internal and external security. UNMISET was initially deployed with a strength of 5,000 troops and 1,250 civilian police, which was to be drawn down as rapidly as possible over the duration of the mission. By November, the mission’s police forces had been drawn down from 1,250 to 741 as the delegation of full operational authority to Timorese units had taken place in 4 of 13 districts. The military component of UNMISET remained largely dedicated to maintaining a robust border presence to prevent the influx of militias from West Timor.²

1. James Dobbins, Seth G. Gones, Keith Crane, Andrew Rathmell, Brett Steele, Richard Teltschik, and Anga Timilsina, The UN’s Role In Nation-Building: From the Congo to Iraq (Santa Monica, C: RAND Corporation, 1990), 162.
2. “Secretary General’s Report to the UN Security Council,” United Nations Security Council (S/2002/1223), November 6, 2002.