Administrative and policy issues including a struggle over finances between the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan and a humanitarian organization have delayed the construction of a fence around a UN "protection of civilians" site that has been repeatedly infiltrated by armed groups.

There are now about 75,000 people sheltering inside the UN base in Bentiu to escape ethnic-political violence, according to latest estimates, yet a large portion of the base remains without a protective barrier.

Numerous incursions by armed actors have taken place through the site's unfenced perimeter, Radio Tamazuj reported earlier this week.

The area that remains unfenced is an "extension site" currently being constructed to house civilians fleeing violence. According to sources, the fence is unfinished at least in part due to a dispute over who will pay for it between the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and a humanitarian agency called the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"There has been an ongoing struggle about who holds the financial responsibility for erecting the fence," a senior humanitarian official told Radio Tamazuj. "UNMISS has said they are unable to erect the fence due to being constricted to the assessed cost budget. IOM does not have the funding for transport [of fence materials from Juba]."

The humanitarian official continued: "As a result of the delay, the rainy season is settling in and insecurity has increased dramatically which means the fencing materials will likely need to be flown in thereby increasing the cost significantly."

Another humanitarian source independently confirmed that there had been a difference of view on this issue between UNMISS and IOM, pointing out that IOM reportedly did not see itself as responsible for constructing the permiter of a UN peacekeeping base and felt it was beyond their mandate.

Although UNMISS and IOM responded to inquiries from Radio Tamazuj for this story, neither disclosed specifically who is paying for the transportation of the fencing materials. UNMISS noted that the delay in shipping fencing supplies is also due to "tensions around the airport that are slowing our operations."

UNMISS and IOM said the stakes are being fabricated in-country and will be moved to Bentiu in phases once they are ready. "This will also depend on transportation availability especially air assets, itself depending on the security which has been seriously deteriorating since 27 April. The stakes may be moved by road if necessary," said a UNMISS spokesperson.

The UNMISS spokesperson did not answer repeated queries over how much it was contributing to the site, though it did say they have provided the razor wire for the fence while IOM is providing the stakes and pickets.

The second humanitarian source questioned whether the fence stakes had even arrived in South Sudan by this point. This source also reported that by now the disagreement between IOM and UNMISS may have been settled by now after a compromise agreement on division of responsibilities.

UNMISS acknowledged that it is undertaking some of the work on the extension to its base. "UNMISS military and engineers deployed in Bentiu are contributing to the ground work" of building the extension site, a statement from a spokesperson said. According to IOM, "ground work" includes improving drainage to prevent rainy season flooding.

IOM said it was paying at least 19.2 million US dollars to expand the 'protection site' at the UN peacekeeping base. It is unclear why IOM – a humanitarian group – is paying for improvements on a UNMISS peacekeeping base. IOM did not respond when asked why it was contributing to the construction of a fence to protect the civilians' site when it is UNMISS' primary mandate to protect civilians in South Sudan on its bases.

IOM said that IDPs are expected to move into the new site "in the coming weeks," but cautioned that "completion of the expansion depends largely on how early the rains begin."

UNMISS policy

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon disclosed earlier this month that the UN has studied possibilities for relocating ethnic Nuers under the protection of peacekeepers within South Sudanese government territory to opposition-controlled territory.

Up to today, however, UNMISS still has a policy of housing the more than 120,000 displaced people on its bases. These include mostly ethnic Nuers who sought protection after racial killings from late 2013 to 2015.

The UN has not apparently studied resettling them in neighboring countries as refugees, though Bentiu is located only a short driving distance from the Sudanese border.

This policy creates pressures on the UN Mission to use peacekeeping resources for protection of large 'PoC' perimeters with enough living space inside for the displaced people under their protection. The challenge is made more problematic by the low-lying ground on which many UN bases are situated.

According to one of the humanitarian sources, interviewed by Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, UNMISS was initially reluctant to expand the Bentiu PoC site because the Mission's leadership thought that the Mission either could not or should not protect more displaced people at the site.

“I had the impression that UNMISS did not want the expansion,” the source said.

However, even after UNMISS decided anyway to approve the site expansion, there were further administrative delays. Although international donor funding to IOM was approved for the site expansion in about September, construction did not start until about February, the source explained.

UNMISS chose to first negotiate permission from authorities in the state in order to extend protection to the displaced people.

The humanitarian source said that UNMISS negotiated with authorities for approval for the extension for a long time, causing a “huge delay”. Actual construction on the site – for drainage, the perimeter berm and observation posts – did not begin until about February.

Referring to the land negotiations, the humanitarian worker said, “That took a very long time and that for sure was the biggest delay.”

Neither of the humanitarian sources wanted to be named for fear of repurcussions for their respective organizations. Aid workers in South Sudan often have to live inside and operate from UN bases.

Observation posts unmanned

Construction work on the PoC extension site is ongoing. Although there is no fence, the perimeter berm has been completed and there has been progress on the groundwork and drainage. UNMISS has put in place several temporary watchtowers.

However, the aid worker said that the watch towers are not manned by peacekeepers, in spite of recent incursions into the extension site and into the PoC site itself via the extension site boundary.

IOM-contracted construction workers reportedly wanted to work night shifts in order to complete the site work before the heavy rains set in, but have been unable to do so because of insecurity.

None of the displaced people living on the PoC site have yet moved into the extension area, though during the daytime they may go there to wash laundry or simply spread out. The PoC site is increasingly overcrowded and people are now sleeping in the PoC schools. During the previous rainy season the PoC site flooded and some people were living in water at least up to their knees.

“If it starts raining then it's going to be a dilemma between staying there in the mud or going to the [unprotected] new site... it's muddy already,” said one humanitarian worker.

File photo: Bentiu Protection of Civilians site during the last rainy season (UNICEF)

(Correction: A quotation above from UNMISS was initially incorrectly attributed to IOM).

Related:

Army incursions in or near UN protection site in South Sudan

Dozens of children killed by SPLA armed groups: witnesses

Unity State violence displaces 100,000 people in a single week

Photos: Capture of Bentiu, January 2014 [graphic]