New York - South Sudanese government security officers prevented several local UN staff from travelling to Uganda this week in two incidents believed to based on their ethnicity, UN officials said on Wednesday.
South Sudan has been in political turmoil since President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy Riek Machar last year, triggering a conflict that has reopened deep ethnic tensions in the world's youngest country which only won independence from Sudan in 2011.
Kiir comes from the dominant Dinka ethnic group, while Machar, now rebel leader, is from another major tribe, the Nuer.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that four national UN staff were denied permission to board a UN plane on Monday by National Security officers from the government of South Sudan and their passports were confiscated.
“It's unfortunately not an isolated incident,” Dujarric told reporters. “A similar incident occurred with two other UNMISS national staff members at the airport on Wednesday.”
UNMISS is the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. UN officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the staff in both incidents were targeted based on their ethnicity.
Dujarric said the UN staff members were travelling to Entebbe for official training at a regional support centre.
“UNMISS was not given any legal explanation or other reason for barring their official travel. The mission therefore asked the authorities to return their travel documents and allow their official travel,” he said.
South Sudanese authorities returned the passports and UNMISS identification cards to the UN mission earlier on Wednesday.
The fighting in South Sudan erupted in mid-December after months of political tensions sparked by the sacking of Machar. Thousands have died in the conflict and more than 1.3 million people have been driven from their homes.
The UN Security Council almost doubled the mandated number of peacekeepers in late December to 12 500 troops and 1 323 police, but so far only about 8 100 troops are on the ground. - Reuters