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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / SHEARER PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
TRT: 3:20
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 4 SEPTEMBER 2020, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN /FILE
FILE, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Med shot, sunrise
2. Various shots, internally displaced people in a camp
3.Wide shot, Protection of Civilians Site
Med shot, a child in front of a tent
4 SEPTEMBER 2020, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
4. Pan right, press room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan:
“The POC sites were set up to protect people in imminent physical danger – and they did so for many different ethnicities, for many years. But today, many stay just to access services.”
FILE, BENTIU, SOUTH SUDAN
6. Wide shot, displaced people in queue
7. Med shot, UN Peacekeeper medic helping an injured displaced
8. Wide shot, UNMISS Police at gate allowing displaced in
4 SEPTEMBER 2020, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
9. Med shot, cameraman at the press conference
10. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan:
“That has occurred because we assessed that, any threats that existed in the past, are no longer in existence today. Importantly, withdrawing from these sites, means those troops who were occupied at the POCs can be redeployed to hotspots where peoples’ lives are in immediate danger, like in Jonglei.”
FILE, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
11. Various shots, displaced people behind razor wire
FILE, BENTIU, SOUTH SUDAN
12. Wide shot, food distribution for displaced
13. Med shot, men unloading truck with sacks of food
14. Wide shot, women walking with their rations on head
4 SEPTEMBER 2020, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
15. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan:
“Nobody will be pushed out or asked to leave when UNMISS withdraws, and humanitarian services will continue. It is just that the sites will no longer be under our jurisdiction but will be IDP sites, like so many others IDP sites across the country. It will be the government’s responsibility to find other land for these people to settle, or to help them return to their homes or assist those who houses are occupied by others.”
FILE, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
16. Various shots, students boarding bus – exam escort
17. Various shots, woman preparing porridge
18. Med shot, women walking carrying firewood on their heads
When civil war erupted across South Sudan in 2013, thousands of families fled to United Nations bases in fear for their lives. The UN peacekeeping mission in the country (UNMISS) opened its gates and set up Protection of Civilians sites to provide them sanctuary.
Seven years later, the security situation is much improved, and residents of these sites move freely between the camp and town to attend school or university, shop at the market, and to work.
SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan:
“The POC sites were set up to protect people in imminent physical danger – and they did so for many different ethnicities, for many years. But today, many stay just to access services.”
Political violence has reduced significantly in the wake of a peace deal and formation of a new Government. As a result, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan has begun to progressively withdraw its troops and police from the POC sites in Bor and Wau and will gradually do the same at camps in other areas.
SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan:
“That has occurred because we assessed that, any threats that existed in the past, are no longer in existence today. Importantly, withdrawing from these sites, means those troops who were occupied at the POCs can be redeployed to hotspots where peoples’ lives are in immediate danger, like in Jonglei.”
Once the troops are withdrawn, the POC sites can be re-designated. Instead of being protected by the UN under international law, they become more conventional Internally Displaced Persons camps under the sovereign control of South Sudan.
SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan:
“Nobody will be pushed out or asked to leave when UNMISS withdraws, and humanitarian services will continue. It is just that the sites will no longer be under our jurisdiction but will be IDP sites, like so many others IDP sites across the country. It will be the government’s responsibility to find other land for these people to settle, or to help them return to their homes or assist those who houses are occupied by others.”
In future, the South Sudan National Police Service will be responsible for law and order at the IDP camps, as they already are at other sites. UN police officers have worked closely with their national counterparts for several months to build their capacity and will continue to do so. In Wau, Bor and Juba, criminal activity in the POCs is already being reported to local police and those arrested are handed over so that action can be taken.
South Sudan’s government has primary responsibility for protecting all civilians and this will be extended to those living in the former POC sites. If that protection is missing, UNMISS has a clear mandate to intervene and it will.
The Mission emphasizes that the newly named IDP camps will not be closed and people will not be forced to leave. Instead, with careful planning and support over time, it is hoped that the residents will voluntarily and safely return to their homes to live peaceful and prosperous lives.
