German foreign minister visits UN military mission in South Sudan

DPA
·2 min read
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Annalena Baerbock German Foreign Minister, talks to Hans Peter Dorfmueller, Commander of the United Nations Mission UNMISS. Against the backdrop of the current fighting in Sudan, Baerbock's talks will focus on the question of how to better coordinate international mediation initiatives and increase pressure on the parties to the conflict. Michael Kappeler/dpa
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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock received a briefing on the situation in South Sudan at the headquarters of the UN Blue Helmet mission in the East African country in the face of a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Baerbock was welcomed in the capital Juba on Friday by the deputy head of the military observation mission and longest-serving officer of the German part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Colonel Hans Peter Dorfmüller.

After the talks with the UN soldiers, Baerbock planned to visit the refugee settlement of Gorom, around 20 kilometres west of Juba, to learn more about the situation of the people there.

Gorom has been home to refugees from Ethiopia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for years. Gorom was set up for about 3,000 people but by December was home to around 10,000 refugees.

The UNMISS is currently the largest UN peacekeeping mission in the world. It consists of some 13,000 Blue Helmet soldiers from 73 countries, about 1,500 police officers and about 2,600 civilians. Its main task is to protect returning refugees.

There are currently 14 German soldiers involved. The members of the German Armed Forces are deployed in the mission's command staff and as military observers.

It was only on Wednesday that the German Cabinet voted in favour of extending Germany's participation in UNMISS; The Bundestag still has to give its approval.

The UN mission emerged from the predecessor mission in Sudan when South Sudan declared independence in 2011 and is intended to support the peace process.

Earlier on Friday, members of Baerbock's delegation reported that the foreign minister will "travel on to Jordan following her trip to East Africa and hold political talks on the Middle East crisis there on Saturday."

Annalena Baerbock German Foreign Minister, meets Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for South Sudan and Head of the UNMISS mission. Against the backdrop of the current fighting in Sudan, Baerbock's talks will focus on the question of how to better coordinate international mediation initiatives and increase pressure on the parties to the conflict. Michael Kappeler/dpa