Keeping the peace

mortality in the town was high, and 38 per cent of under-5s fell sick with suspected malaria, coughs or diarrhoea.

It was hell on earth, in a place well used to misery, sorrow and starvation.

‘‘It’s some of the worst conditions I think you’d find in South Sudan,’’ said New Zealand Defence Force’s Lieutenant Colonel Brent Quinn. ‘‘It’s certainly some of the worst conditions that I’ve seen.

The camp is on the edges of the compound of David Yau Yau, Boma state governor and a former militia leader. Yau Yau said the situation was ‘‘helpless’’.

‘‘Most of the things in Boma state have been destroyed . . . over 78 people died. Some of the livestock, the cows in the cattle camp [were] destroyed. The belongings have been destroyed.’’

Quinn’s boss, top UN official David Shearer, was inside the compound, meeting Yau Yau. He would later tour the camp and, as Shearer’s military assistant, Quinn was making a quick assessment.

There was no real danger – people were too weak and hungry to be a risk – but in the middle of a camp a wellmaintained anti-aircraft gun was packed into the earth. Two infants in their underwear played next to it.

Another gun was positioned on a ute next to the dirt airfield, poorly concealed under plastic sheeting.

‘‘There’s always challenges with keeping the SRSG [special representative of the UN’S secretary-general] safe,’’ Quinn said. ‘‘But there is always allocated force protection for him and he has a close protection party. ‘‘David travels quite a lot – it’s really about getting out to those grassroots parts of the country and really understanding what’s making a difference for the people of South Sudan, because that’s what really counts.

‘‘And generally, everywhere we go, people receive David really well. So, we don’t feel like there is really any definitive threat to his security.’’

Quinn is one of four Kiwi soldiers deployed to the UN Mission in South Sudan. ‘‘When you walk around, what you’ll see is everyone wearing the blue beret. Everyone is a UN peacekeeper, first and foremost. And so everything we’re doing is in line with the principles and standards of the UN. That’s what the blue beret really represents and why we all wear it.’’

A soldier for 20 years, Quinn has served across the Middle

East and South Pacific. ‘‘This is my first time, though, to Africa. It’s a fairly austere environment. And so it certainly is an opportunity to really challenge yourself.’’

He’s been based at the UN’S main compound in Juba for almost a year, and the job involves strategic planning, organising Shearer’s multiple field trips around the country and also ‘‘making sure that what force – the uniformed component of the mission – is doing is aligned with the mission’s objectives’’.

One of those main objectives is protecting South Sudanese civilians. The signing of a peace agreement in 2018 saw 600,000 displaced people return to their homes within a year, including 20,000 from six UN Mission in Sudan (UNMISS) protection of civilian (POC) sites.

But close to 200,000 remain sheltered by the peacekeepers, terrified by frequent inter-tribal clashes, or unsure of how to support their families.

Life in the POCS is grim. ‘‘Homes’’ are makeshift and temporary – strict rules prevent residents collecting furniture other than beds and cooking equipment.

One such camp, POC3, borders the compound where Quinn lives and works. The peacekeepers are a familiar sight – troops from all over the world man its guard towers and enforce strict curfews. Quinn has an endearing rapport with its hundreds of children. Dozens surround him, eager to stroke the hair on his arms, a

Caucasian feature they are enthralled with.

‘‘There’s obviously a lot of poverty around South Sudan,’’ he said. ‘‘But what never fails to capture me, though, is just the resilience of the people here.

‘‘The reason we’re here and the reason I think that people serve, certainly that I serve in the military, and come to places like this is because, in your own little way, you’re trying to make