“We heard appeals for the United Nations peacekeeping presence to be more active, to patrol, to offer protection that security forces for the government don’t offer at this time”.
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I hope the Council will be interested to hear, both from us and from the government about the progress we have made through our discussions, in particular, on the deployment of the regional protection force for Juba, Lj said.
South Sudan, devastated by civil war, has said the force violates its sovereignty.
China and Russian Federation abstained from an August 12 Security Council vote on the resolution that authorised deploying a protection force with a more robust mandate than that of UNMISS.
South Sudan has been consumed by brutal violence that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people and displaced 2.4 million from their homes.
In early July, close to the fifth anniversary of the country’s independence, the youngest nation was plunged into fresh violence due to clashes between rival forces – the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), loyal to President Kiir, and the SPLA in Opposition, backing former First Vice-President Riek Machar.
UNMISS faced considerable criticism over its failure to protect civilians during the July fighting.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir (C) with a high delegation from the U.N. Security Council, including U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power (CR) in Juba on September 4.
The council threatened to consider an arms embargo if U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported in mid-September that Kiir’s government was not cooperating on the protection force and was still obstructing peacekeepers already on the ground.
According to Sunday’s joint statement, South Sudan has also committed to implementing a hybrid court to investigate war crimes. The council meets with African Union officials in Ethiopia on Monday.
Kiir publicly consented to the protection force, authorized by the U.N. Security Council last month, after meeting with council envoys, led by U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, on Sunday in Juba.
National sovereignty is paramount for our countries, he said, emphasizing that the United Nations can not impose the deployment.
Security Council continued a rare visit to the country on the brink of renewed civil war.
There are already some 12,000 peacekeepers serving in the United Nations mission.
The visit comes amid tensions between South Sudan and the worldwide community. “I know I would go and take that risk for my children, I think any mother would”.
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He also said it was equally important for the world body to take “serious note of the fact that as long as Salva Kiir remains the head of state, South Sudan will never recover”.
