South Sudan objects to drones for peace mission

United Nations. South Sudan told the United Nations on Friday that it opposed the use of surveillance drones to help track ongoing fighting in the world’s youngest nation.

The comments came as the UN Security Council approved a resolution that asks Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to deploy more helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to strengthen the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

South Sudan’s Ambassador Francis Mading Deng told the 15-member council that the use of UAVs was a “contested” issue and complained that the move was decided without consultation with Juba.

Such a decision will “invite controversy, and potential disagreement and hostility, when harmony and cooperation are what the situation calls for,” Deng said.

The United Nations has made successful use of drones in its mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, allowing peacekeepers to survey areas that are hard to access or too dangerous to deploy the blue helmets.

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said the use of UAVs was key for the mission to carry out the new tasks to shore up the faltering peace deal and monitor the ceasefire. “We believe there is a requirement to deploy UAVs for enhanced early warning, necessary to protect civilians as well as for the safety and security of peacekeepers,” he told AFP by email.

Ladsous said the United Nations would continue talks with South Sudan on the use of the drones, stressing that cooperation from Juba was needed to make use of the technology. Russia and Venezuela abstained from the vote largely in protest at the new provision on the use of UAVs and another section on the threat of sanctions, but the resolution was adopted by a vote of 13 in favor. Russian Deputy Ambassador Petr Iliichev said it was time to engage with South Sudan’s warring sides. (AFP)