Sudan: aid agencies call on UN to boost troops

Aid agencies in Sudan have called on the United Nations to increase the number of troops to be deployed to South Sudan after it secedes from the north on Saturday.

Ahead of the official separation of oil-producing South Sudan, the UN Security Council is expected to approve the deployment of up to 7,000 UN peacekeepers in the south.

Need for peacekeeping presence

In a press release, issued by a variety of aid organizations, the Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, Daniel Bekelesaid: "The increasing violence and human rights violations this year underscore the need for a robust and flexible peacekeeping presence in South Sudan."

A spokesman for Oxfam said it was concerned that "some Security Council members want to limit the number of peacekeepers to less than 7,000."

"South Sudan is the size of Texas and has little capacity to protect its own population despite its commitment to do so," the Oxfam spokesman said.

Reaction

However, several countries are challenging the UN Secretariat on the need for peacekeeping troops in Sudan.

A Western diplomat declared that they had requested that the UN should produce evidence that as many as 7,000 troops were still needed.

The diplomat claimed that some of the tasks originally envisaged, such as border monitoring, are now expected to be done by UNISFA instead.

"Khartoum has made clear it is against a continuing UN peacekeeping presence,” the diplomat said

Status quo

UNIFSA, the UN Interim Security Force in Abyei, is a peacekeeping force of 4,200 Ethiopian troops deployed to the disputed Abyei region for a six-month period.

The UN mission for south Sudan, will be the fourth separate blue-helmeted force in Sudan, the others being in Dafur, Abyei and a mission called UNMIS that monitored compliance with the 2005 north-south peace deal that ended decades of civil war.

North's President to attend independence celebration
 
As preparations are in top gear in Southern Sudan to ensure that the Independence Day goes smoothly, Northern Sudan President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, had said he will travel to South Sudan for the celebration.
 
President Omar, in a statement said: "I will travel to (the southern capital), Juba in two days to congratulate them on their new state and wish them security and stability," and plans to seek friendly relations with the former civil war foe.
 
The excitements and preparations
 
The separation from Northern Sudan, for many southerners, represents a moment of long-awaited triumph and fresh optimism after decades of brutal civil war and perceived marginalization.
 
Southern Sudanese in the world’s newest country capital, Juba are cleaning up streets, seizing black market guns and controlling hectic traffic; with celebratory banners hang across the city.
 
Men and women with brooms are sweeping leaves and dust from the southern capital's streets and men in paint-stained clothes are painting walls.
 
Along the main road to town, pickup trucks carrying men waved South Sudan's new flag and bullhorns blasted the new national anthem.
 
A red digital display in a nearby roundabout is counting down the seconds to independence. "Free at last," one message on the display read.
 
Hundreds of thousands of southerners have already returned home ahead of the independence, and many more are trooping back.
 
Last week, a flight from Khartoum was full of southerners carrying bulky suitcases.
 
Security arrangements
 
Security forces were continuing a clean-up of illegal guns and were registering people trying to buy new firearms, said the Interior Minister, Gier Chouang Aloung.
 
He stressed that even celebratory gunfire would not be tolerated on July 9."There will be no shooting. The only shooting will be the 21-gun salute. Any other shooting is illegal and it will be taken care of."
 
Authorities were issuing regular statements to discourage harassment and abuse of power among security forces.
Report says the north wants UNMIS out by July 9, though Security Council diplomats say the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China have tried to pressure Khartoum to allow UNMIS to remain for three months after the south secedes in line with the results of a January independence referendum.

A vote by the Security Council to create the UNMISS peacekeeping force for South Sudan is likely to take place in coming days, most likely Friday, the diplomat said.

Economic boom
 
Since the secession, the fruit and vegetable markets on the capital's surrounding towns have been boosted, as southerners stock up on food ahead of the celebration.
 
A 38-year-old food vendor, Gift Kadija, who is from Uganda like many of the sellers there, remarked; "These days they are really buying. They buy tomatoes, Irish potatoes, beans, rice, cooking oil for the celebrations. They are preparing."
 
The 2005 peace deal
 
North and South Sudan have warred for several years over ideology, religion, ethnicity and oil, until a 2005 peace deal that brought an end to the war and consequently, promised southerners the chance to vote for independence.
 
About 98 percent voted for secession when the referendum was held in January.

The Independence celebration will attract several foreign dignitaries across Africa and beyond, to Sudan's oil-producing south, now a peaceful nation, in a region once known for political turmoil.

Nigerian delegation to the ceremony had since arrived Juba.
 
The White House had announced that US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice will lead a delegation to South Sudan to attend the ceremony on July 9 to celebrate its secession.

REUTERS/Emma/Shakira/Williams