“We would like to see better understanding between the government of South Sudan and the UN”.
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Which countries will contribute troops, when they will arrive and what their mandate will be are still under discussion despite South Sudan agreeing in principle to the deployment at the weekend.
A senior council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the trip, said the levels of cooperation needed from the South Sudan to avoid an arms embargo are “nowhere near being met”.
Fresh fighting in July broke a fragile truce in place since August 2015, it left 300 dead and hundreds more wounded.
Both government and rebel forces have been accused of widespread abuses in the civil war that began in December 2013 between supporters of Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and former Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer. The troops are to protect civilians in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.
In July violence erupted again in Juba between Kiir’s forces and supporters of Machar, killing 300 people in a matter of days.
South Sudan is wary of giving the United Nations more authority and has called the plan a new form of colonialism.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has agreed to the deployment of 4,000 additional United Nations peacekeepers after initially rejecting the regional protection force as a breach of its sovereignty.
Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and head of the Security Council delegation, said the visit to South Sudan has been successful, urging the government to commit to its promise of ending sexual violence against girls and women.
South Sudan has also agreed to implement a hybrid court to investigate war crimes.
The government clarified its position Sunday on a UN resolution on sending troops after a meeting between a UN Security Council delegation and President Salva Kiir.
“The refugees have brought to us very disturbing reports”, UNHCR Spokesman Melissa Fleming said at a briefing in Geneva.
However, she added, we are here unfortunately not in a celebratory frame of mind because of our deep concern about the fighting that has degraded the security environment and that has exacerbated a devastating humanitarian crisis for the people of this country.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but slid into civil war after Kiir sacked Machar as his vice president.
Tens of thousands of people have died.
South Sudan’s Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Martin Elias Lomoro, said of the planned deployment: “We’re discussing the modalities”.
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An estimated 16,000 children have been recruited by armed groups and the national army in the conflict and 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes.
