British troops in South Sudan will have no peace to keep

Britain will send between 250 and 300 troops to South Sudan to join the UN force supposedly charged with implementing this peace deal. In reality, the main task of the 11,350 peacekeeping troops in South Sudan is to protect 200,000 civilians who have taken refuge in UN bases.

Outside the capital, Juba, a vast camp housing 28,000 fugitives spreads across a rugged savannah. The people here are from the Nuer ethnic group of Riek Machar, the main rebel leader. They have fled government forces drawn largely from Mr Kiir’s Dinka tribe.

James Madol, one of the fugitives, said that he went to the camp after his 17-year-old brother, Gatkuoth, was killed by a soldier inside the family home in Juba. “He thought he was safe in this country, but at night they came and killed him. He was shot in his bed by a government soldier,” said Mr Madol.

This camp is guarded by UN troops in watchtowers. In areas where the largely Nuer rebels are fighting, the situation is reversed and Dinkas have gathered for safety in UN bases.

British soldiers are not expected to be performing guard duty. A Downing Street statement said they would carry out “vital engineering work” along with “combat training and advisory support”^[1]. The Ministry of Defence declined to say when the first Britons would arrive.

They will also find that relations between the authorities and the UN are exceptionally strained. Last year, Mr Kiir accused the UN of hiding rebels inside peacekeeping bases and of establishing a “parallel government” to “take over South Sudan”. Mr Kiir has not welcomed the impending arrival of a British contingent.

The UN soldiers – drawn mainly from India, Bangladesh, Ghana and Nepal – are deployed across South Sudan’s 10 states.

But an official in Juba predicted that British troops would not leave the capital. “They will be more in a support and advisory capacity, which means they’re not going to be deployed basically – they’re just going to be in Juba,” said the official.

If the peace agreement is implemented – which may never happen – government troops are supposed to leave the capital. An alternative security plan for Juba must then be put in place.^[2] The official predicted that British troops would prepare this plan.

References

1. ^{^} carry out “vital engineering work” along with “combat training and advisory support” (www.telegraph.co.uk)
2. ^{^} alternative security plan for Juba must then be put in place. (www.telegraph.co.uk)