An RAF C-130 aircraft has been deployed to aid in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), arriving in Juba at the end of March. This is welcome news to peacekeepers on the ground and will temporarily double their air-lift capacity. It is expected that the C-130 will conduct daily flights to Malakal on the Upper Nile, enabling the delivery of vital supplies and vehicles to the UNMISS base there.
The deployment is especially timely as the rainy season approaches, making up to 60 per cent of roads in the area impassable except by barge. The operation is thus expected to be a crucial boost to UNMISS, helping to re-supply the UN base.
Ten thousand people have so far been killed in South Sudan since civil war broke out in the country in December 2013. The conflict has also uprooted thousands more civilians and given rise to 112,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) seeking shelter and safety in UN camps, particularly Malakal, which currently hosts around 21,000 of these IDPs.
This is the first deployment of a UK C-130 to the UN in Africa as part of the UN’s Air Transport Fleet. The operation is expected to last until mid-April.
UNA-UK welcomes this move as a positive step towards more intensive UK engagement in UN peacekeeping missions, as called for in our foreign policy manifesto. Increased logistical support from the UK to UN missions should help to strengthen the capacity of peacekeeping missions and contribute to their long term success.
Image: RAF Hercules C130 Aircraft Takes off from Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. ©Crown Copyright (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/) (Cropped Image)
