He has also suggested the United Nations peacekeeping mission’s neutrality has been compromised as its camps sheltering displaced people are protecting supporters of the opposition.
Advertisement
In August, the council made a decision to send in an additional 4,000 peacekeepers to South Sudan.In prepared remarks, US Ambassador Samantha Power was critical of the government, and said it was not cooperating with the United Nations.”The worldwide community is extremely frustrated with the obstruction of UN peacekeeping operations that have gone on too long”.
For weeks now South Sudan’s government has been facing intense pressure and the threat of sanctions from the global community for refusing to accept the regional force.
“They said that they want this prison sentence to end, and the only way to end it is if the United Nations force gets up to full strength with the deployment of the regional protection force”.
Minister Lomoro also underscored that the government committed “to permit free movement to UNMISS in conformity with its mandate” and “improve humanitarian access, including by providing assistance by eliminating illegal check points”. The worldwide force has come under a lot of criticism because it was unable to protect civilians during the fierce fighting that broke out in Juba in July.
The South Sudan government opposes the proposed additional peacekeepers on the grounds that their mandate violates national sovereignty.
South Sudan’s government said it would look to the African Union for direction on whether to implement accountability measures, a council diplomat said.
“The Security Council came to achieve what we have secured”, US Ambassador Samantha Power said.
The US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power insisted as she arrived in Juba that 4,000 additional African peacekeepers were needed. He said he will only return to Juba if regional forces are deployed.
“Taban Deng is serving as vice president and he will stay in that position until the return, if there is a return, of Riek Machar”, Alexis Lamek, France’s deputy United Nations ambassador told AFP after meeting the African Union’s Peace and Security Council in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The new force has a focus on protecting civilians.
Last week, Kiir removed Machar again from his post, replacing him with Taban Deng Gai, who had previously served as Machar’s chief negotiator, as well as the country’s mining minister.
It has been an ongoing problem since December 2013, when Kiir ousted Machar as South Sudan’s first vice president and accused soldiers loyal to his rival of staging a coup.
Advertisement
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.
