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United Nations bans 12 European peacekeepers from South Sudan mission

Germany and Sweden also withdrew police without the approval of United Nations staff and the organisation has barred all three countries from sending their police officers back to South Sudan once the violence dies down.

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Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war first erupted in December 2015 when Kiir accused Machar, then his vice president, of plotting a coup.

On 17 July, the South Sudan Ministry of Health issued an alert after 30 suspected cholera cases and one death were reported in Juba.

The officers were part of an global team sent to mentor the South Sudan police force.

UNITED NATIONS A final United Nations memo on Britain, Germany, Sweden and Jordan’s withdrawals of police from a peacekeeping mission in South Sudan without telling the world body, left out draft language questioning Britain’s Security Council veto power.

U.N. officials said that while the decision to send home two unarmed British policeman might send the wrong message to other countries contributing police to the U.N. mission it would certainly not put Britain’s U.N. standing into question.

“We judged their temporary removal was necessary for the officers’ safety”.

“For some TCCs (troop-contributing country) who are council members and have the responsibility to ensure peace and security globally, this can be considered as a lack of respect to their engagement on peace and security”, said the internal memo.

Let the peace come from us. They said UNMISS’s mandate should be change to that of an intervention force.

“Any pressure against journalists based on the content of their reporting represents regressive steps that South Sudan can not afford to take”, he said.

There are about 1200 police serving in Unmiss alongside military contingents.

Describing the evacuation process in recent days as successful, the army spokesman said “the total number of civilians evacuated from South Sudan by road under protection of the UPDF (Ugandan army) since the start of the operation has reached 38,000”.

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An estimated 6,800 new arrivals are being sheltered at the UN House peacekeeping base on the outskirts of Juba, which already housed some 28,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) prior to the fighting.

Evacuees from Juba South Sudan where 300 people died in clashes last week John Muchucha  Associated Press