South Sudan rejects US troop proposal
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SOUTH Sudan yesterday rejected a US proposal for the UN Security Council to send 4,000 additional troops to the East African country to restore calm, saying it “seriously undermines” its sovereignty and threatens a return to colonialism.
Government spokesman Michael Makuei said the proposal gives the UN the ability to govern. The proposal also calls for a vote on an arms embargo on South Sudan if UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reports within a month that authorities have blocked the regional force.
The Security Council could vote today on the proposal, which comes after a former US special envoy suggested last month that the UN and African Union temporarily administer the country after fighting broke out once again.
UN officials say the government has begun a crackdown that includes seizing dozens of passports of UN workers and imposing restrictions on travel and delivery of food aid.
Deadly fighting in the capital Juba last month raised fears of a renewed civil war after an August 2015 peace deal and worsened a humanitarian crisis. Rebel leader and former first vice president Riek Machar fled during the fighting and says he will return only when regional peacekeepers secure Juba.
An East African political body, IGAD, last week said South Sudan had agreed to a regional force, but Makuei yesterday disagreed and said the government had not been consulted.
Under the US proposal, the regional force would report to the UN force that numbers more than 12,000 peacekeepers but has been criticized for not acting to protect civilians. The regional force would protect the airport and promote safe and free movement in and out of Juba.
“If South Sudan is turned into a UN protectorate, then this is not the end of the game but the beginning,” Makuei said. “It will begin with South Sudan, but it will end up with all of us being turned into new colonies.”
The US ambassador to South Sudan, Molly Phee, said the US proposal is “entirely in line with what IGAD requested, and South Sudan is a member of IGAD.”
South Sudan’s government has seized at least 86 passports of UN workers and imposed other restrictions that are a “clear violation” of the UN’s operating agreement with the government, a spokeswoman for the UN mission said.
South Sudan’s Foreign Minister Deng Alor has called it a temporary safety measure.
The UN also said the government has forbid its staff from traveling south of the capital.
In addition, its World Food Program has had its flight clearances revoked for all food drops coming from neighboring Ethiopia. The UN has warned that millions in the country will face food shortage in the coming months.
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