A first Fijian Peacekeeper in Yemen has returned.
55-year-old Senior Superintendent of Police Malakai Kivarua who is the first Fijian to peacekeeper in Yemen has returned.
SSP Kivarua who hails from Lomainasau ,Tokatoka in Tailevu led a contingent of twenty officers to South Sudan last year and was selected by the Department of Peacekeeping Operation under the United Nations to spend two months in Yemen.
According to Kivarua it’s not easy for him to leave behind his team and accept the responsibility, however since policing is a calling that’s something that has prompted him to move forward.
The 55-year-old officer and his counterpart from Brazil were appointed to monitor, verify and file a report of all military evolution in the volatile area of South Yemen.
“I never dreamt of reaching that height but with all the experience that I had in these years of service , it makes my work much easier especially in writing reports”
According to SSP Kivarua as of last year the conflict in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, causing widespread devastation to the country’s civilian and public infrastructure, including hospitals, airports, roads, houses and factories.
This has been described by the Fijian officer as the ‘world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
“Going through all these is something I will never forget and am thankful that I believe in the Almighty God who save my life from this difficult situation”
The father of two said spending sixty days in a vessel and moving around in armed vehicles escorted by Yemen soldiers for two months is a totally different environment for him.
Meanwhile the former Officer in Charge of the Police Special Response Unit in Nasinu this week closed the Integration program in which he reminded members of his contingent on the importance of adapted some of their positive mission experience in their respective units within the organization.
He also encouraged them that strength does not come from winning .Their struggles develop their strengths, when they go through hardships and decide not to surrender ,that is what SSP Kivarua reminded the officers as strength.
