Ethiopia Reaffirming Commitment to Secure Peace in South Sudan

Fekadu Wubete

The predominant issue in South Sudan at present is to restore peace and trust from the people at home and trust from the international community. Trust is assumed to be restored if all leaders and stakeholders are committed to the implementation of the power-sharing agreement and restoration of peace and democracy so that it does not collapse.

The UN Security Council, according to AFP, has authorized the deployment of a robust force of 4,000 troops to South Sudan after heavy fighting set back efforts to end the country's devastating war. The council adopted a US-drafted resolution that also threatened to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan if the government blocks the deployment.

AFP said eleven countries in the 15-member council voted in favor of the resolution while China, Russia, Egypt and Venezuela abstained from the vote, citing the failure to secure South Sudan's consent for the new mission may incur unforeseen problems. But African leaders called for the regional force to secure Juba and help protect UN bases after a flare-up of violence in the capital that left hundreds dead. The vote followed a week of tough negotiations, with China, Russia and Egypt voicing concerns over deploying UN peacekeepers without the government's full consent.

Under the measure, the council was expected to consider imposing an arms embargo on South Sudan if UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported that there are "impediments" to the deployment.

South Sudan's ambassador said his government rejected the resolution, telling the council that the details of the deployment — including timing and the weapons the troops will be allowed to carry-must first be negotiated with Juba. He said consent of South Sudan would have been important as it would have given the force all the necessary freedoms to carry out the outlined mandate tasks.

However, after initially opposing the troop deployment, the government of South Sudan has caved to international pressure following a visit from UN Security Council member saying it no longer oppose if regional peace keeping forces are deployed.

Similarly, the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), a regional rapid response force, said its troops are on standby and ready to be deployed to South Sudan if African Union(AU)gives the directive. It said the force is well equipped and has the capacity to carry out its mission successfully in the troubled region(EASF has been established to make rapid intervention, prevent conflict and enhance peace and security of the region: EASF is one of the five regional standby forces under the command of the AU; it draws its members from ten member states from Eastern Africa Region: namely, Brundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

Some analysts, however, said the best course of action for the South Sudanese government is to implement Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-brokered security arrangement spelled out in the August 2015 peace agreement.

Most South Sudanese lawmakers have said that they welcome the government’s decision to accept the deployment of regional protection force. Some say the government has the right to place conditions on that deployment, including the number of troops, their type of weapons and which countries they should come from (because a UN member State cannot negotiate with the Security Council after it has already agreed to the deployment of troops).

Indeed, international community will not tolerate a volatile situation that causes civilians or non-combatants in a foreign country to suffer. Some also said the Council may change the mandate of the protection force to one of peace enforcement if it determines that the government is not cooperative (Chapter 7 of the UN Charter states that UN peace keepers are allowed to use force to ensure the peace and protection of civilians in accordance with UN resolution. It allows the council to determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression and to take military and non-military action to ‘’restore international peace and security.’’)

The UN Security council will follow the consent and the agreement of South Sudanese government when it starts deploying the regional protection force by the 30^th of September. However, some South Sudanese parliamentarians said that the government must have its own say in choosing which troops are deployed to South Sudan.

As a neighbor and major contributor, Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda are expected to contribute the bulk of the new troops who will be authorized to use all necessary means, including undertaking robust action where necessary to fulfill their mandate. The force is expected to ensure security in Juba and at the airport (and promptly take measures on any actor that is credibly found to be preparing attacks or is engaged in attacks).

It was said that African regional leaders had requested UN approval for a robust force to bolster security and open up space for diplomatic efforts after a year-old peace deal suffered a blow when ex-rebel leader Riek Machar fled Juba during the fighting. Months of diplomatic efforts had led to Machar's return to Juba in April to join a national unity government as vice president.

The UN mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, has come under criticism for failing to protect civilians with its current 13,500 peacekeepers. About 200,000 South Sudanese have been sheltering in UN bases across the country since the war began in December 2013. Overall, more than 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes during war including 930,000 who have fled to neighboring countries, the UN's refugee agency said.

It had been said that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia-Peace Support Training Center has been working to enhance the regional standby capacity for peacekeeping and peace-building missions. It has been providing a training that focuses on protection of civilians, international humanitarian law, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration as well as economic development.

Earlier high ranking African military officials from Ethiopia, Burundi, Djibouti, Rwanda, and Tanzania had received training on post-conflict management and capacity building in Addis Ababa. The post-conflict recovery training course, co-organized by the governments of Japan and Ethiopia, aims to not only improve the capacity of regional peacekeeping operation troops but also the concept of the African Standby Force.

Ethiopia has a long history of participation in United Nations (UN) peace operations dating back to the 1950s. The country’s first major participation in a UN-authorized operation was as part of the UN Command multinational force in the Korean War (1950-53). Ethiopian forces were also  deployed in UN-led, blue helmet operation from July 1960 to June 1964 as part of the UN Operation in the Congo (ONUC).

According to International Peace and Security Studies(IPSS),  in the recent past, Ethiopia had participated in peacekeeping missions in Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia, and contributed greatly to Africa's peace keeping mission. Ethiopia intensified sending its personnel to UN missions in the 1990s as part of the major expansion of UN peacekeeping during that period. Accordingly, Ethiopia deployed a battalion to the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR 2) from August 1994 to July 1995. Since then Ethiopia has been deploying its personnel in eight UN peacekeeping operations.

IPSS stated that Ethiopia’s most recent peacekeeping deployments have all been in the Sudans: to the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), the UN-AU Hybrid Mission to Darfur (UNAMID), the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). While its deployment to UNAMID has been its largest recent troop contribution, Ethiopia set a new record in the history of UN peacekeeping operations by supplying almost the entire military component of UNISFA, comprising approximately 4,000 soldiers, as well as the force commander and many of the mission’s senior leadership.

This mission was also notable for Ethiopia’s rapid deployment of troops: within one month of the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution. In UNAMID, Ethiopia’s deployment peaked at approximately 2,500 troops. With its large contributions to these two missions, since 2011 Ethiopia has become the largest African and fourth largest troop contributor to UN peacekeeping operations.

The Foreign Affairs and National Security Policy and Strategy of Ethiopia (2002) also  acknowledges that the country’s development, peace and security is intertwined with the development, peace and security of neighboring countries and those in Africa. The promotion of regional peace and security is therefore a major political consideration in Ethiopia’s provision of peacekeepers, including to the UN. Particular emphasis is given to stability in the IGAD sub-region, where all of Ethiopia’s recent major deployments have taken place.

Ethiopia has become enthusiastic advocate of peace due to its foreign policy which is established on solid rock foundation of peace and peaceful co-existence. As a founder and Chair of IGAD, the role of Ethiopia to stabilize East Africa, flourish peace and strengthen regional integration is invaluable. Ethiopia’s relations with its neighbors are now far more solid than ever before.

Ethiopia also recognizes that participation in international peacekeeping missions enhances its regional and international influence. This is articulated as one of the secondary basic principles of the Foreign Affairs and National Security Policy of Ethiopia (2002). Indeed, the role of Ethiopian peacekeepers has been commended by host societies and mandating authority as well as senior leaders of the missions in which they participated.

Security rationales are major factors for Ethiopia’s peacekeeping deployments. Both in policy and praxis, Ethiopia understands from experience that its national security is intertwined with the security of its neighbors and the countries of the region. Given that Ethiopia is the only country that shares borders with all the IGAD member states except Uganda, conflicts and security problems in its neighborhood often have serious repercussions for Ethiopia at home. This has been the major factor to Ethiopia’s interest to deploy troops in South Sudan. In this case, Ethiopia’s deployment is mainly to prevent conflicts from undermining its own security and to stem any wider regional security problems that may develop. 

Having profound experience in peace-keeping missions, Ethiopian will continue to reiterate its commitment  to make UN peacekeeping contributions. It is considered to be an important tool for pursuing various foreign policy and national security objectives, notably for stabilizing the sub-region and Africa. 

Earlier, Ethiopia’s active participation in the AU as well as IGAD has contributed to the creation of a cooperative framework among countries in the region on issues of common concern including peace initiatives, conflict early warning systems and economic integration. Apart from security, Ethiopia has always supported peaceful resolution of conflicts between the fighting forces of Sudan. It remains committed supporter of peace-deal and peaceful negotiation and has frequently expressed willingness to use its close ties to help resolve any differences over post-referendum issues of South Sudan.

Recently, while the South Sudanese ambassador paid was on official visit in Addis Ababa, nation has reaffirmed its commitment to secure peace in South Sudan and its readiness to contribute its own to restore peace and security in South Sudan; participate in the peace keeping mission as per the order of UN Security Council and the willingness and call of the government of South Sudan.

Once again Ethiopia is expressing its unwavering determination to strengthen regional peace and prevent the pervasive effect of conflict in South Sudan. Nation said it will sustain its proactive effort to keep the peace and security of South Sudan, restore its peace and resume development endeavor. Its determined effort to effect lasting peace will continue as far as fruition. Nation believes that the peaceful situation in neighboring countries enables to secure the overall peace and security of the region and individual countries as well.