The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says it is committed to protecting civilians in the country.
The Mission was responding to a report, available here, by Radio Tamazuj which found that UNMISS declined to protect a displaced persons camp called Sector 5 being built at the UN’s base in Malakal of Upper Nile state.
“We have not declined anything. We are looking at the situation with the amount of forces that we have and according to our mandate to protect civilians,” spokesperson Ariane Quentier told reporters.
Aid workers are constructing the Sector 5 area because the existing Sectors 1-4 are overcrowded. Currently 42,533 people live in Sectors 1-4 with only 3.35 square meters of space each, according to calculations based of UNMISS and aid workers’ figures.
Building sector five would provide people with more than two to three times as much space as now, according to aid workers.
UNMISS said in a separate statement released yesterday that Sector 5 is not a priority in Malakal because they want to focus on rehabilitating existing Sectors 1-4 which were damaged by recent fires.
The statement added that the Mission is hopeful that the peace agreement will allow displaced people to return to their homes. “In the meantime, the United Nations remains committed to the protection of civilians within its mandate and within the framework of its support the peace process in South Sudan,” UNMISS said.
UNMISS said its peacekeepers are protecting nearly 200,000 people in their bases around the country, and are also working to protect people outside their bases using patrols and by establishing smaller bases in Leer of Unity state, Mundri of Western Equatoria, and Wau Shilluk of Upper Nile.
Photo: UNMISS