“We’re here to train Djibouti’s police to protect its cultural heritage.”

“So you’re U.N. peacekeepers?”

The question is almost rhetorical. The answer is visible on the officers’ dark camouflage uniforms, trimmed in red and bearing the sky-blue “Unite4Heritage” insignia associated with the United Nations initiative.

“United for heritage” is the motto of the cultural Blue Helmets, who have been operating around the world since 2016 to protect cultural heritage threatened by armed conflict, natural disasters and the illicit trafficking of works of art. At the heart of this effort is a task force drawn from the Carabinieri’s Cultural Heritage Protection Command, known by its Italian acronym, TPC. Nearly half a century of experience has made the unit a world leader in the field.

East Africa’s Strategic Crossroads

“Yes, we’re Blue Helmets, here in our capacity as Carabinieri trainers, helping prepare the national police,” explain the two TPC warrant officers, veterans of the command who came from units in Rome and Turin.

We meet them in Djibouti, a small country whose strategic importance has grown amid the geopolitical shifts of the 21st century, putting it at the center of international affairs.

Italy, too, has established a presence here through its Military Support Base, known as BMIS, commanded by Alpine troops Col. Lorenzo Guani. It is Italy’s first joint-service military base on foreign soil since World War II and serves as an all-purpose support hub for Italian armed forces operating across the region.

Among the activities based there is the work of the Carabinieri under the Italian Training Mission, or MIADIT. The mission trains an average of 180 Somali police officers and 225 Djiboutian police officers and gendarmes, as well as officers, investigative units, special forces personnel from the GIS and trainers. TPC specialists are among those providing instruction.

“It’s highly specialized work. We began in 2013, and we’re now on our 10th edition,” says Capt. Matteo Maria Lucente, Chief of Staff of the Carabinieri’s MIADIT Somalia 9 mission.

Djibouti itself is not home to a particularly significant concentration of cultural treasures. But as a gateway to Africa from the Arabian Peninsula, it could serve as a transit route for artworks stolen across the region, taking advantage of the turmoil in Yemen. Combating illicit trafficking is therefore a priority for both the Carabinieri and the cultural Blue Helmets.

Blue Helmets Around the World

Djibouti is just one of several operational theaters for Italy’s cultural Blue Helmets, Lucente explains.

“I took part in launching the first edition of MIADIT Palestine, in 2014, to train a specialized police force — the tourist police — which also works to protect the area’s enormous cultural heritage, from archaeological sites and places of worship to museums.”

The TPC traces its origins to May 3, 1969, a year before the adoption of UNESCO’s 1970 Convention, which called on member states to take measures against the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property. Italy was therefore a pioneer in an effort that would later take shape internationally under the United Nations, drawing on the fact that an estimated 60% of the world’s artistic heritage is located in Italy.

The command is headquartered at Palazzo Sant’Ignazio in Rome. Its operational division is organized into three sections covering archaeology, antiquities, and contemporary art and forgery — a structure designed to span the entire history of art.

The unit also manages a specialized database of stolen cultural properties and operates the iTPC mobile app, which allows users to search and consult information on more than 22,000 high-value cultural objects.

The results are tangible. Among the most notable achievements are the return to Italy of the Euphronios krater, an ancient Greek vase, and the recovery of 5,000 archaeological artifacts stolen and found in Switzerland.

Overseas deployments require personnel to undergo physical, psychological and aptitude assessments, followed by specialized training to prepare them to operate in potentially hostile environments.

The United Nations’ Cultural Blue Helmets

Italy’s cultural peacekeepers grew out of the experience gained in Kosovo and Iraq, the command’s internationally recognized expertise and the development of cross-border judicial cooperation to recover stolen cultural property.

Italy was the first country to recognize the need to strengthen UNESCO’s capacity to respond to extraordinary emergencies and to propose new mechanisms shared by member states and the organization. An agreement with the United Nations was signed in 2016.

“It is one of the strongest responses our country could offer to the crimes against humanity being committed by ISIS and similar organizations in today’s crisis zones,” Gen. Fabrizio Parrulli, then Commander of the TPC, has repeatedly said.

“We go wherever we’re called,” say the officers stationed in Djibouti. Their missions have taken them to Iraq, Palestine, Latvia, Latin America and Mexico.

But the deployment that most profoundly shaped the work of these guardians of culture was in Baghdad, following the looting of the Iraqi National Museum in 2003, amid the collapse of security after the U.S.-led invasion and the retreat of Iraqi forces.

The mission was part of Operation Ancient Babylon and came at a significant human cost. Its legacy continued in Iraq as the country was devastated by ISIS, with Carabinieri members of Unite4Heritage contributing to efforts associated with Operations Inherent Resolve and Prima Parthica to protect cultural heritage and counter the destruction and trafficking of antiquities.