Concerns of displaced people in South Sudan over the withdrawal of peacekeepers
Peacekeepers on mission in South Sudan.
AFP / Albert Gonzalez Farran
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
On Monday, the displaced persons installed on the site for the protection of civilians (POC) in Bentiu, in the north, demonstrated.
Last week, those of Bor and Juba had done it.
These displaced people do not want the peacekeepers to leave as planned in an agreement with the government.
The UN forces must be replaced by the South Sudanese authorities.
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With our regional correspondent in Nairobi
,
Sébastien Nemeth
South = Sudanese displaced people living in the POCs say they have been abandoned by the UN.
For them,
the departure of the peacekeepers
is premature.
Main source of concern: the peace agreement signed in 2018 is far from being fully implemented.
They cite as an example the unified army which is not in place and the security arrangements applied very partially.
Some also say they fear their government and national security forces.
The UN has decided to hand over the country's five POCs.
These sites, created in an emergency, especially in 2013, are under the protection of the United Nations and are home to tens of thousands of people.
In general, around 150 peacekeepers as well as 150 to 300 UN police officers protect them permanently.
But for the UN force in South Sudan, this device is obsolete.
Blue helmets to be redeployed
David Shearer, the boss of the Minuss, explains that the POCs had been built "
to protect the populations against an immediate physical danger
".
However, according to him, "the threats that existed at the time are no longer relevant".
David Shearer believes that peacekeepers "
should be deployed where they are needed most
", citing the case of Jonglei
where inter
-
communal violence
in recent months has left 600 dead and 160,000 displaced.
The agreement provides for the POCs to become classic IDP camps, protected by the national police.
Elements trained for months by the UN to take over.
It will then be up to the government to seek lasting solutions to resettle these civilians.
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