Diplomats at the United Nations have agreed to send 4,000 regional peacekeepers into South Sudan.
At the UN, there were 11 votes in favor of the measure, which was written by the United States. Russia, China, Venezuela, and Egypt all abstained, and said the measure violated South Sudan’s sovereignty.
Immediately, South Sudan rejected the measure, because the force was put under UN command and was different from the IGAD communique.
“We are not going to ‘cooperate’ on that because we will not allow our country to be taken over by U.N.,” Ateny Wek Ateny told the Reuters agency. “Any force that will be called Juba Protection force will not be accepted.
“We recognize the importance of government cooperation, but the United States would point to the actions of the government. For while we expect the South Sudanese government to treat the United Nations like the partner that it is, that is simply not is happening on the ground in South Sudan today. Instead, as we all know, the Government of South Sudan’s troops are actively blocking United Nations personnel from carrying out their life saving work, which in some cases has led to the deaths of U.N. peacekeepers,” said U.S. deputy ambassador David Pressman.
The diplomats did not agree to an arms embargo on South Sudan, and instead decided to use the issue as a tool of coercion to force the government to agree to the force.