2010 Paulatim Magazine - RAAMC Association

Operation Azure / United Nations
Mission in Sudan May – November 2009
Events in Sudan are rarely brought to the attention of the Australian
public. When this does occur, it’s usually for all the wrong reasons.
This is the irony of Sudan’s recent history; despite the long term
suffering it has undergone, the wider world remains blissfully unaware
of Sudan’s history. Since independence in 1956, Sudan has suffered
through forty years of sporadic civil war, ongoing tribal conflicts, famine
and epidemics. Approximately 2.5 million people were killed as a result
of civil wars and approximately 4 million people were displaced as a
result of the civil wars and tribal conflicts.
After the years of fighting, an uneasy peace was brokered in 2005
between the Islamist Government of the North, led by President Omar
al Bashir and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A) led by Dr John Garang. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA) paved the way for UN Security Council Resolution 1590 of 24
March 2005 and the establishment of the United Nations Mission in
Sudan (UNMIS). ADF personnel have been involved in UNMIS since its
inception. The ADF commitment consists of a small group of
predominantly logistic staff officers in UNMIS HQ in Khartoum and a
small group of detached Military Observers, scattered across Southern
Sudan. Our mission was simple; monitor the situation to ensure the
CPA is adhered to and set the conditions for the April 2010 elections
and independence referendum of early 2011.
In May 2009, Australian Contingent 9 (ASC9) UN Military Observers
(UNMOs) left Australia for their six month tour in the largest country in
Africa. Much of the information we gathered before departure was from
our peers who had gone before us on previous rotations or from what
books we could find about the place. From the information we
gathered, one thing we quickly realised was that you could probably
not deploy to a more austere and vast conflict zone in the world.
After settling into Australia House in Khartoum, we commenced our two
week UN induction, which taught us the basics of being an UNMO.
Our task was simple; monitor the actions of the Sudanese Armed Forces
(SAF) and the SPLA to ensure that neither side was breaching the CPA.
One thing we quickly gathered was that Australian soldiers are highly
regarded on the mission because of their work ethic and their ability to
interact with people from varied backgrounds. The north of Sudan is
typically arid, desert and hot. The people appear to be more Arab than
African and are predominantly Islamic. They consider themselves to be
part of the Arab world and are quite proud of their Islamic heritage.
After two weeks in the sandy furnace that is Northern Sudan, the
UNMOs were allocated to their team sites and dispatched to Southern
ASC 9 UNMOs (L to R): Major Brian Ardley, CAPT Paul Manuel,
CAPT Sharon Cord, LTCOL Glenn Taylor (COMASC Rotation 10),
CAPT Luke Hodda, CAPT Peter Amaricai and LEUT Katrina Gosper, RAN.
Sudan. The south is a complete contrast to the north. The desert gives
way to savannah and jungle. People are from Neolitic tribes, very tall,
very dark skinned and predominantly from Animist and Christian
beliefs. They prefer English to Arabic for business and speak a variety
of indigenous languages as their primary language. The climate in the
south was more akin to life in Northern Australia. Treatable diseases
and illness such as diarrhoea and malaria were commonplace and fatal.
Health care in the region was scant and dependant on NGO support,
particularly in remote areas. Added to this HIV/AIDS was rife and
notoriously under-reported. Many people remain illiterate. Southern
Sudanese under the age of 40 have grown up their entire lives in the
spectre of conflict, with peace being sporadic at best.
I was assigned to Sector III of VI to the town of Malakal, the capital of
Upper Nile State along with CAPT Sharon Cord (AACC). We were
fortunate enough to be allocated to a team site that was located on the
banks of the White Nile, which enabled us to conduct patrols by river in
addition to four-wheeled drive patrols and rotary wing patrols to more
remote areas.
Patrolling in Sector III was by no means an easy feat. The sector is
roughly the approximate size of the UK and has only 100km of paved
road. There were 100 UNMOs across 5 team sites covering the sector.
Our allocated AO was one of five in Sector III. AO Malakal was roughly
the size of Tasmania and split across the middle by the White Nile.
Patrolling on the far bank by four wheel drive was impossible – the
nearest bridge was over 500km away. To cover this area we had 25
8 4 P A U L AT I M – M A GAZINE O F T HE R OYA L A U S T R A L I A N A R M Y M E DICAL C O R P S – 2 0 1 0