Drones and Gunships May Land in South Sudan Soon

As the Security Council sets to renew the mandate of the UN mission in South Sudan later this month, the UN special envoy to South Sudan stated that the United Nations should consider deploying surveillance drones and helicopter gunships to South Sudan because peacekeepers are struggling to protect civilians from violence and rights abuses.

Hilde Johnson while speaking to the UN Security Council said after a UN civilian helicopter was shot down in December, new developments in safety procedures and a lack of military helicopters had slowed the mission's ability to respond. The peacekeepers' arsenal is equipped with just three helicopters in such a precarious terrain.

According to Johnson, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had outlined several options to boost the South Sudan mission in a report to the 15-member Security Council, including surveillance drones, helicopter gunships and more cargo and riverine transport capabilities.

According to Reuters, Johnson said: "I urge the council to take urgent action to support the mission in filling these critical resource and capability gaps," Johnson told the Security Council in a video link briefing. South Sudan will mark two years of its freedom from Sudan on July 9 and Johnson said that while most parts of the country remained stable, fighting between South Sudanese troops and armed groups in the eastern state of Jonglei was of "deep concern."

Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes because of the violence and Johnson said there had been rights violations by both armed groups and national security authorities. On April 9, gunmen ambushed and killed five UN peacekeepers and seven civilian staff in Jonglei. The UN mission has fewer than 6,900 troops to cover a country the size of France that has barely 300 km (200 miles) of paved roads.

Seasonal rains have turned the region into a swamp, severing road access. Johnson said "critical resource and capability gaps" had caused a mobility crisis for the peacekeepers that particularly affected operations in high-risk areas such as Jonglei. "This is having a particularly detrimental effect on the mission's ability to implement its protection of civilians' mandate," she said. "Effective protection is only possible through being present in those communities most at risk."

South Sudan still suffers largely from lack of infrastructure as well as high level of corruption and consistent oil face-off with Sudan. Senior council envoy said that peacekeepers should focus more on protecting civilians "rather than on spreading out across the country and doing infrastructure projects and nation building."