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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / UNMISS
TRT: 01:53
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 NOVEMBER 2018, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN / FILE
FILE - 23 FEBRUARY 2016, BENTIU SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shots, protection of civilians site
22 NOVEMBER 2018 JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
2. Wide shot, Meeting room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“POCs are a last resort, not a long-term solution. They are certainly not a place where children should grow up if we want them to reach their full potential.”
4. Med shot, meeting room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“We will work in full cooperation with our humanitarian partners to re-establish services in communities over time rather than continuing to use POCs as a convenient hub for delivering aid or because of a lack of housing. There is also a fairness issue. We need to ensure that those who go home are not disadvantaged because they don’t receive education and healthcare while those living in the POC do so.”
6. Close up, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“This is the responsibility of the government – both national and local. The homes of some people living in POCs have also been illegally occupied by others. That is also the responsibility of the government to ensure these are vacated for families in the POC to move back to.”
8. Wide shot, end of presser
Just under 200,000 displaced people live in United Nations Protection of Civilians (POC) sites across South Sudan. These camps were set up to provide sanctuary for vulnerable people facing imminent threat of physical violence when civil war broke out in 2013. There is no doubt that many lives have been saved as a result.
However, as relative calm has descended on many parts of the country, refugees and displaced people are beginning to return. Ninety five percent of those arriving at UN sites in Juba say they are not in immediate fear for their lives or seeking protection. Rather, they are looking to access basic services and reunite with families.
SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“POCs are a last resort, not a long-term solution. They are certainly not a place where children should grow up if we want them to reach their full potential.”
Speaking at a press conference in the capital Juba, the Head of UNMISS said the priority was therefore to support communities and provide services in the areas outside the POCs that people want to return to.
SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“We will work in full cooperation with our humanitarian partners to re-establish services in communities over time rather than continuing to use POCs as a convenient hub for delivering aid or because of a lack of housing. There is also a fairness issue. We need to ensure that those who go home are not disadvantaged because they don’t receive education and healthcare while those living in the POC do so.”
One of the greatest challenges is finding land for people in the POCs to return to.
SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“This is the responsibility of the government – both national and local. The homes of some people living in POCs have also been illegally occupied by others. That is also the responsibility of the government to ensure these are vacated for families in the POC to move back to.”
Shearer said the Mission would do all it can to facilitate the safe return to those who choose to leave POCs and return home. It will also continue to work closely with humanitarian agencies and the government on this process.
