The Sudan Situation - The Yambio Perspective

I am not sure if people have been watching the news at all or if you even here about Sudan that often back home, but the last few weeks have been somewhat tense. I chose not to write about it on my blog because things were pretty hectic and I did not want to put anything on my blog that might cause concern or jeopardize the safety of any fellow UN Peacekeepers.

On July 9th, in the Darfur region of Sudan, several UN staff were ambushed by Janjaweed rebels. 2 UNPOL officers and 7 force protection members were killed and several other UN staff were seriously injured. On July 11th, the ICC (International Criminal Court) announced that they were going to arrest President Omar Al BASHIR for crimes against humanity in Darfur. Coincidence? I have my own thoughts on this issue. These two things put our UN Mission in jeopardy and has been our major cause for concern.

We were advised to be prepared for a possible evacuation from the mission. We were also told that all “non-essential” UN staff members that were currently out of the mission area were not to return until further notice and that all “Essential staff” members were to remain at the team sites if other members were evacuated and were not allowed to take any leave. Myself, my Operations Officer, and my Security Officer were considered the “essential staff” that were to remain at the Yambio Team Site if such an evacuation were to occur here in the south.

This obviously caused people a lot of concern as no one wantsto leave the mission. We prepared for a quick evacuation if necessary and everyone was on the phone to their families, contingent commanders, and fellow country men trying to get the latest news. Even though far removed from the Darfur conflict and mission, our concerns were the LRA. If fighting were to break out in the north, anything could happen here in the south. There is also belief that the LRA could be supported by President Al BASHIR as the Janjaweed rebels are. The mood was tense, but we were required to go about our regular duties. I chose to cancel all medium range patrols and put our team site on a curfew just as a precaution.

At this time, we are back to business as usual. We are still prepared for an evacuation if necessary and if fighting erupts in the north, however, Yambio to this date is peaceful. I have also received reports this week that the LRA are resuming peace talks here in the south as well which is a move in the right direction. We will be conducting medium range and long range patrols again starting this week and I have removed the curfew.

So far, there have been protests and demonstrations in Khartoum, but all have been peaceful. The staff in Khartoum are under several restrictions at this time to ensure there safety, and the staff that were outside of the mission area are now being asked to return. My last information was that the Darfur mission was still under consideration.

I am keeping my fingers crossed…I am not ready to leave this mission just yet.

Peace from Yambio,

Rory

(Photos: 1) Deserted market, 2) Left to right: Hugo MONTALVO (training officer), Aimable MUPENDE from Rwanda, some guy, SSPS officer Simon PETER, me, 3) The Yambio Team...most of them anyway.)