FIJIAN and Nepalese troops have returned home as the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) winds down after 22 years of operation.
The final 156 Fiji soldiers to serve with UNAMI marched through the capital, Suva, after their return from Iraq and were reviewed by the President, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, at Albert Park.
UNAMI was set up shortly after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and Fiji was asked to provide troops to protect UN workers who oversaw the country’s transition to democracy.
Last year Iraq requested that the UN mission, including troops, be withdrawn as they were no longer necessary.
More than 700 staff, shut offices in the north of the country and more facilities will close over the coming months,
UNAMI security forces from Nepal and Fiji have been sent home, buildings handed over to the Iraqi government, and by September 2026, all facilities should have been fully returned. Meanwhile, Fiji will continue to provide troops to the United Nations Disengagement Force in the Golan Heights