South Sudan

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has temporarily deployed 40 peacekeepers to Bijombo, South Kivu, where violent clashes between local armed groups have reportedly destroyed entire villages, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee to such areas as Uvira.

The United Nations migration agency said today that it assisted more than 72,000 migrants to return home voluntarily in 2017.  This represents a 27 per cent decrease compared to 2016, when some 98,000 migrants were provided with return and reintegration support.

Thousands of Rohingya people continue fleeing Myanmar’s Rakhine State and describe continued violence and human rights abuses, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, told the Human Rights Council yesterday, warning that the international community will not forget the outrages committed.

Peace in South Sudan would only be sustainable through a fair and inclusive revitalized peace agreement that would take the root causes of the conflict into account, the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations told the Security Council today, as members of the 15-nation organ cautiously welcomed the rapprochement between the country’s President and former First Vice-President.

As hostilities escalate in southern Syria, civilian deaths continue to be reported and up to 66,000 people have now been displaced.  Many who fled towards the Jordanian border remain stranded in the desert with little access to humanitarian help.  Planned aid convoys will proceed as soon as the security situation allows.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vassily A. Nebenzia (Russian Federation):

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

A Bangladeshi peacekeeper from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan was killed today during an attack on a convoy delivering humanitarian aid to vulnerable civilians in Central Equatoria Province.  The Nepalese peacekeepers immediately returned fire and the assailants retreated into the forest.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court pressed the Security Council today to play a more active role in supporting the arrest and transfer of those suspected of mass-atrocity crimes in Darfur, a situation it had referred to The Hague-based tribunal more than 13 years ago.