A Dok Nuer community leader has called on the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to establish base camps in Leer County and Panyijar County to protect civilians who fled from atrocities committed by South Sudanese government forces.
UNMISS peacekeepers in Unity State are currently confined only to the state capital Bentiu.
Majak Dieu Gatbuok Mok, chairman of the Dok Community Association in Sudan, said in a recent written paper that Nuer civilians need protection from “Salva Kiir’s government and its allied militias.”
The statement referred to recent human rights reports about atacks on women and girls, looting of cattle and mass killings, calling these acts “cowardly” and “barbaric”.
Majak said, “We as a community, from different parts of Sudan, recommend and want UNMISS to foster a civilians protection, to establish a base camp in Leer, for IDPs from Koch, Mayiandit and Leer, and another base camp in Payinjiar County.”
More than 20% of the Nuer population of Unity State have fled to the UN protection site at the Bentiu peacekeeping base. However, other Nuers are living without international protection in places like Panyijar County, or have fled to the bush.