As a consequence of escalating tensions throughout the country, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan is now monitoring a displacement camp adjacent to its peacekeeping headquarters 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Tens of thousands of people living in the camp are facing new risks, with conflicts between troops affiliated with the two main parties to the peace accord occurring in a number of areas around the nation and political tensions rising in the capital.
“In light of the current security developments, we recognize through our engagements with the communities and the displaced persons, that they have some concerns about their safety and their future. As United Nations police, we have engaged through the communities, actively patrolling, being present in the areas, in an aim to help them feel safer.” Christine Fossen, UNMISS Police Commissioner said.
With the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement and ceasefire in 2018, the security situation began to stabilize. In 2020, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) transitioned almost all the displacement sites, which had been under UN protection for seven years, into conventional camps under the responsibility of the Government.
But the country now appears to be back on the brink of war.
