我的第二次維和征程

文/金陶陶

來(lái)之不易的“二維”經(jīng)歷

我曾于2019年12月被派往聯(lián)合國(guó)南蘇丹任務(wù)區(qū)執(zhí)行維和任務(wù)。南蘇丹任務(wù)區(qū)是聯(lián)合國(guó)最危險(xiǎn)、衛(wèi)生條件最差的任務(wù)區(qū)之一，經(jīng)過(guò)一年的磨礪和成長(zhǎng)，我于2020年12月底圓滿結(jié)束維和任務(wù)后回到祖國(guó)懷抱。南蘇丹的維和經(jīng)歷不僅提升了自我，更重要的是作為中國(guó)女性維和警察為保護(hù)當(dāng)?shù)貗D女兒童權(quán)益作出了貢獻(xiàn)。本以為我的維和經(jīng)歷已到此結(jié)束，卻沒(méi)想到又收到了赴塞浦路斯任務(wù)區(qū)維和選拔的通知。

接到通知后，我的內(nèi)心是十分振奮的，因?yàn)榭梢栽俅螢閲?guó)出征，貢獻(xiàn)自己的力量。然而，那時(shí)距離結(jié)束維和任務(wù)回家團(tuán)聚還不滿一年。念小學(xué)的兒子曾對(duì)我說(shuō)，每天放學(xué)最期待的事情就是能見(jiàn)到媽媽。報(bào)名前我很猶豫，一邊是祖國(guó)的召喚，一邊是家人的不舍。在與家人溝通后，他們都對(duì)我的工作表示理解。在家人的支持下，我向聯(lián)合國(guó)塞浦路斯任務(wù)區(qū)遞交了自己的簡(jiǎn)歷。在公安部國(guó)際合作局的精心指導(dǎo)下，經(jīng)過(guò)認(rèn)真準(zhǔn)備，我于2021年10月通過(guò)了任務(wù)區(qū)選拔面試，并于2022年1月7日被派往塞浦路斯任務(wù)區(qū)再次執(zhí)行維和任務(wù)。臨行前，兒子抱著我說(shuō)：“媽媽放心吧，我會(huì)好好學(xué)習(xí)，你要照顧好自己。”那一刻，我的眼圈紅了。

當(dāng)飛機(jī)抵達(dá)塞浦路斯任務(wù)區(qū)時(shí)，我對(duì)自己說(shuō)，一定要珍惜來(lái)之不易的第二次維和機(jī)會(huì)，不辱使命。

初到塞浦路斯任務(wù)區(qū)

入職培訓(xùn)合影（左三為金陶陶）

駕車巡邏

在辦公室辦公

塞浦路斯于1960年獨(dú)立，獨(dú)立后由希族和土族兩族組成聯(lián)合政府，1963年兩族發(fā)生武裝沖突，1964年聯(lián)合國(guó)維和部隊(duì)進(jìn)駐塞浦路斯。島上土族集中居住在北部，希族則集中居住在南部，而聯(lián)合國(guó)維和部隊(duì)則駐扎在南北分界線控制區(qū)（即聯(lián)合國(guó)緩沖區(qū)）。塞浦路斯分裂為南北兩部分，南部為塞浦路斯共和國(guó)，由希族控制，并得到國(guó)際社會(huì)的承認(rèn)；北部為土族控制，于1975年2月和1983年11月先后成立了“塞浦路斯土族邦”和“北塞浦路斯土耳其斯坦共和國(guó)”，只有土耳其承認(rèn)。長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)，聯(lián)合國(guó)及國(guó)際社會(huì)一直在努力斡旋兩族分歧，但塞浦路斯問(wèn)題至今未果。2015年1月，中國(guó)首次向聯(lián)合國(guó)駐塞浦路斯維持和平部隊(duì)（聯(lián)塞部隊(duì)）派遣民事警察。目前，在塞維和警察大部分來(lái)自歐洲國(guó)家。這是一個(gè)政治高度敏感的任務(wù)區(qū)。這就意味著，維和警察不僅僅要有良好的專業(yè)素養(yǎng)及語(yǔ)言能力去獨(dú)立處理好工作中遇到的會(huì)引發(fā)兩族矛盾的敏感問(wèn)題，也要維護(hù)好與其他國(guó)家維和警察之間的關(guān)系，因?yàn)槲覀儾粌H代表聯(lián)合國(guó)維和警察，更代表的是中國(guó)警察的形象。

任務(wù)區(qū)第一周的入職培訓(xùn)，是展示中國(guó)維和警察精神面貌和專業(yè)素養(yǎng)的第一步，同期參加入職培訓(xùn)的還有來(lái)自愛(ài)爾蘭和意大利的維和警察。除了每天要求自己出門(mén)前檢查著裝及必須準(zhǔn)時(shí)到達(dá)培訓(xùn)地點(diǎn)外，我還要求自己在每節(jié)課堂上始終保持最好的狀態(tài)。任務(wù)區(qū)幾乎沒(méi)有午休時(shí)間，每天課程結(jié)束后都會(huì)覺(jué)得特別疲憊，似乎用盡了渾身氣力。雖然辛苦，但在課堂上專注的學(xué)習(xí)表現(xiàn)和專業(yè)的職業(yè)素養(yǎng)得到了教官和他國(guó)同事的一致好評(píng)。培訓(xùn)結(jié)束后是手動(dòng)四驅(qū)車輛駕駛考試，我以優(yōu)異的成績(jī)通過(guò)了筆試、路考及山地越野考試。考官豎起大拇指對(duì)我說(shuō)：“You are really good, Chinese lady（中國(guó)女警真棒）。”

巡邏任務(wù)中的挑戰(zhàn)

培訓(xùn)結(jié)束，我被分到了四戰(zhàn)區(qū)阿提諾（Athieou）派出所，主要工作是完成派出所所在緩沖區(qū)的巡邏任務(wù)，以及處理緩沖區(qū)內(nèi)發(fā)生的治安事件。阿提諾派出所負(fù)責(zé)的巡邏路線是塞浦路斯任務(wù)區(qū)中最長(zhǎng)的，從起點(diǎn)到終點(diǎn)需要兩個(gè)半小時(shí)，巡邏一次往返需要五個(gè)小時(shí)，如遇到惡劣天氣或者需要處理事件，則需要更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。每年11月至次年3月是塞浦路斯的雨季，今年雨季降水量很大，緩沖區(qū)內(nèi)的道路十分泥濘，這對(duì)駕駛技術(shù)提出了更高的要求。

上班不久，就遇到了暴雨天氣。我的搭檔是一位來(lái)自俄羅斯的女警，她到任務(wù)區(qū)一年多了，經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富，對(duì)巡邏路線了如指掌。為了盡快上手工作，熟悉緩沖區(qū)道路及相關(guān)情況，我主動(dòng)要求駕駛巡邏車輛，請(qǐng)她坐在副駕駛位為我講解緩沖區(qū)情況。

她驚訝地問(wèn)我:“Are you sure（你確定嗎）？”在得到確定答復(fù)后，她點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，坐在了副駕駛位上。在雨中泥濘的山路上駕駛皮卡車，我還是第一次，說(shuō)不害怕是假的，忐忑的心情只有自己知道。但是，內(nèi)心縈繞的聲音卻一直都是：我可以。

緩沖區(qū)執(zhí)行任務(wù)

在遇到一個(gè)幾乎呈四十五度角向下的山坡且右側(cè)毫無(wú)防護(hù)的路段時(shí)，我用到了入職培訓(xùn)時(shí)學(xué)到的極端道路的駕駛技巧。那段路走得膽戰(zhàn)心驚，握著方向盤(pán)的手能夠感受到車輪一直在泥濘的道路上左右打滑。順利下坡后，警服已經(jīng)被汗水打濕。搭檔對(duì)我說(shuō)，經(jīng)過(guò)今天，你能獨(dú)立駕駛車輛在任務(wù)區(qū)巡邏了。那一刻，我體會(huì)到了什么是“一分耕耘，一分收獲”。

具備熟練的駕駛技巧僅僅是緩沖區(qū)巡邏需要具備的第一個(gè)能力，更為棘手的問(wèn)題是處理社區(qū)警務(wù)問(wèn)題。

因塞浦路斯長(zhǎng)期處于分裂狀態(tài)，普通民眾對(duì)一些問(wèn)題十分敏感，這不僅僅需要維和警察具備豐富的警務(wù)經(jīng)驗(yàn)，更要求我們具有高度的敏感性、良好的親和力及語(yǔ)言能力。女警在處理該類問(wèn)題上優(yōu)勢(shì)較為明顯，因?yàn)槲覀兏心托模鼮榧?xì)致。

第一次夜巡，我的搭檔是一位來(lái)自其他國(guó)家的男警，返回途中遇到一輛可疑車輛進(jìn)入緩沖區(qū)，當(dāng)我們停車準(zhǔn)備進(jìn)行詢問(wèn)時(shí)，對(duì)方的情緒突然變得十分激動(dòng)，對(duì)我們吼道：“This is our country ! You, go back to your own country（這是我們的國(guó)家，你，回到你的國(guó)家去）！”聽(tīng)到這句話后，我的搭檔準(zhǔn)備強(qiáng)制其下車，同時(shí)情緒也變得激動(dòng)。我立刻勸阻了他，同時(shí)耐心與對(duì)方溝通，我告訴他，他的心情我們能夠理解，這里的確是他們的國(guó)家，但同時(shí)也是聯(lián)合國(guó)緩沖區(qū)，為了安全起見(jiàn)，請(qǐng)盡快駛離緩沖區(qū)。他聽(tīng)到以后，情緒逐漸穩(wěn)定下來(lái)，然后駛離了緩沖區(qū)，避免了沖突升級(jí)。搭檔對(duì)我豎起大拇指，說(shuō)這樣處理很棒。

任重道遠(yuǎn)的女性維和路

巡邏途中

隨著聯(lián)合國(guó)任務(wù)區(qū)“Gender Mainstreaming”（性別平等主流化）進(jìn)程的推進(jìn)，越來(lái)越多的女性加入維和隊(duì)伍。這給女性同胞們提供了更廣闊的國(guó)際平臺(tái)去展示自己，同時(shí)也帶來(lái)了諸多挑戰(zhàn)。除了高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的體能、駕駛及警務(wù)素養(yǎng)要求，更大的困難的是一年多時(shí)間與家人的分離，尤其是與孩子的分離。對(duì)于想加入維和隊(duì)伍的女性，根據(jù)自己經(jīng)歷整理出以下三點(diǎn)建議。

一是加強(qiáng)警務(wù)素養(yǎng)，提升執(zhí)行力。維和任務(wù)區(qū)的工作難點(diǎn)在于把握與其他國(guó)家人員的相處技巧，不僅包括與來(lái)自不同文化的外國(guó)同事的溝通方式，更重要的是如何妥善處理涉及當(dāng)?shù)厝说木瘎?wù)問(wèn)題。

二是加強(qiáng)體能訓(xùn)練，提高抵抗力。維和任務(wù)區(qū)的衛(wèi)生條件和醫(yī)療條件普遍較差，很多疾病沒(méi)辦法及時(shí)醫(yī)治，尤其是目前全球新冠肺炎疫情仍然十分嚴(yán)重的情況下，對(duì)女性維和隊(duì)員的身體素質(zhì)提出了更高的要求。

三是注重心理建設(shè)，增強(qiáng)抗壓力。長(zhǎng)期封閉的維和任務(wù)要求參與人員能面對(duì)孤獨(dú)和處理負(fù)面情緒，準(zhǔn)備加入維和隊(duì)伍的女性，要多注重自身心理建設(shè)，至少擁有一項(xiàng)興趣愛(ài)好，用以緩解工作和環(huán)境的壓力。■

My Second Peacekeeping Mission

By Jin Taotao

In December 2019, I was sent on a UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, one of the most dangerous regions with the poorest sanitary conditions for the peacekeeping forces. Thanks to my experience there, I felt tempered and improved upon my return to China a year later. More importantly, I felt proud of my part as a Chinese policewoman in protecting the rights and interests of local women and children. I was confident that my peacekeeping service had come to a full stop when I was informed of the selection of peacekeepers for the Cyprus mission.

I was very excited at the notification because it would give me another chance to serve my country. On the other hand, I had only returned from the last mission for less than a year. And my son, a pupil at a primary school, told me that what he looked forward to the most was seeing me after school. So I faltered. To answer the call of my motherland, or to be reunited with my family? That was the question. But my family showed understanding and support for me, so I submitted an application. Under the careful guidance of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Public Security and through my meticulous preparation, I passed the interview in October 2021 and set off for Cyprus on January 7 the next year for my second peacekeeping mission. Before my departure, my son said, “Mom, don’t worry about me. I will study hard. You take care of yourself.” His words brought me dangerously close to tears.

When our airplane landed in the mission area, I steeled myself to cherish this hard-won chance and to prove my worth.

The Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots formed a coalition government following Cyprus’s independence in 1960. However, an armed clash broke out between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots in 1963 and consequently, the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was deployed in 1964. The Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots live separately in northern and southern regions of the island divided by UN’s buffer zone, where the UNFICYP is based. The southern region controlled by the Greek Cypriots is called the Republic of Cyprus, which has been recognized by the international community; the Turkish Cypriots claimed the northern region as “the Turkish Cypriot state” in January 1975 and “the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” in November 1983, which have been recognized only by Turkey. Despite the international efforts to mediate between the two sides, the issue has remained unsettled.

The Chinese government dispatched civil police officers to join the UNFICYP for the first time in January 2015. At present, the majority of the force is deployed by European countries. Politically, this is a highly sensitive area , thereby requiring the police officers to be equipped with skills and language abilities to deal with conflicts and issues on their own. In the meantime, we should build sound relationships with the counterparts from other countries because we represent not only the UN peacekeeping police force but also the Chinese police.

My performance at the orientation training in the first week showed the morale and professionalism of the Chinese police. Joining us were also policemen from Ireland and Italy. I deemed it imperative to be tidy in appearance and punctual in training. As there was no time for a nap at noon, I often felt exhausted at the end of the day. Despite the tough situation, I stayed focused in class and demonstrated a good command of skills that won me high praise from the tutors and colleagues from other countries. After the training, I received high marks on the written test, road test, as well as the crosscountry test for driving 4WD manual vehicles. The examiner gave me the thumbs up: “You are really good, Chinese lady.”

After the training, I was assigned to the Athieou Police Station in Sector Four to carry out patrols and deal with security cases within the buffer zone. Our patrol route is the longest in the mission zone. It takes two and a half hours for a single trip, or five hours per round trip. Of course, even longer in bad weather. The rainy season in Cyprus falls between November and the next March. This year we encountered high precipitation that turned roads into muddy swamps, posing a great challenge on the road.

There were storms not long after I took the post. My partner was a Russian policewoman, rich in experience and familiar with the route. I, however, asked to be at the wheel so that she could tell me more about the buffer zone.

She asked me in surprise: “Are you sure?” I said yes, and she nodded and jumped into the passenger seat. Actually, it was my first time driving a pickup on a muddy mountain road in the rain. Honestly, it would be a lie to say I was not afraid, but a voice rung in my mind: “I can manage.”

On a 45-degree downward slope with no fence on the right, I applied the driving methods that I learned in training. It was a terrifying trip. I felt that the car was skidding on the slippery road as I clung firmly to the wheel. After the descent, I found my shirt bathed in sweat. My partner said, this trip made her believe that I could patrol independently form that day on. No pain no gain.

Driving skills are just one of the many abilities required for patrolling. Community-oriented issues are a greater challenge.

As Cyprus has been divided for a long time, the public is quite sensitive to certain matters. In this case, a peacekeeper has to be rich in experience, prudent in sensitive issues, amiable in attitude and proficient in language. Patient and meticulous, policewomen are in a better position to handle various cases here.

It was a policeman who I partnered with on my first night patrol. On our drive back, we spotted a suspicious vehicle into the buffer zone. We were pulling over to make an inquiry when that man barked at us in fury: “This is our country! You, go back to your own country!” Much irritated, my partner had intended to force the man out of the car. I stopped him and, in patience, told the local guy that we understood his feelings. This is his country but also a buffer zone, so he should better leave this area out of safety concerns. At this, he calmed down and drove away. My partner gave me the thumbs up in recognition of my calm diffusing of the otherwise escalating tension.

As an approach to “gender mainstreaming”, an increasing number of women have joined in the UN peacekeeping forces, stepping onto a broader international platform to demonstrate themselves. But it also brings many challenges. Highly demanding physically and professionally, peacekeeping keep them apart from their families, particularly their kids. In this light, I would like to share three of my observations with would-be women peacekeepers.

First, it is paramount to improve one’s professionalism and performance. The key to fulfilling duties lies in the way we work with people from other countries, including our colleagues with different cultural backgrounds, and more importantly, the local residents.

Secondly, one must intensify training for stronger physical resiliance. The sanitary and medical conditions are more often than not unsatisfactory in mission areas and many symptoms cannot be cured in a timely manner. Against the backdrop of the ongoing pandemic, physical resilience is all the more important to female peacekeepers.

Thirdly, mental resilience is imperative. Peacekeeping in an isolated environment requires the ability to fight loneliness and negative emotions. Women who plan to join the forces are advised to maintain their psychological health, and develop at least one hobby that can relieve them from the stress of work. ■