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STORY: UN / UNMISS FORCE COMMANDER INTERVIEW
TRT: 03:56
SOURCE: UN NEWS
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNMISS FOOTAGE ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – UNMISS – 04 APRIL 2025, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Wide shot, South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF)
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“The situation today in South Sudan is perhaps the nearest to a situation which can result in a civil war.”
FILE – UNMISS – 04 APRIL 2025, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
3. Wide shot, a child walking in front of a Sherp
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“This country has suffered two civil wars before its independence and two after its independence for prolonged durations from 1954 till about 2018. There is no appetite for more suffering in the population. They have suffered a lot due to civil wars. So, we have to stop the civil war at whatever cost.”
FILE – UNMISS – 04 APRIL 2025, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
5. Med shot, UNMISS Rwandese Peacekeepers on night patrol
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“While clashes are going on and violence is increasing, we have to ensure that our primary mandate, that is to protect innocent civilians trapped in conflict in South Sudan, including the internally displaced persons.”
FILE – UNMISS – 04 APRIL 2025, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
7. Wide shot, Juba IDP Camp
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“In addition to this, we have to ensure that in a country where 9.3 million out of 12-13 million population are dependent upon humanitarian aid of some sort or the other, and about 7.2 million people are dependent on it in a very acute manner, that if they are not provided support they may face death. You know, in such a condition, creating conditions conducive for delivery of humanitarian aid is also a priority for the mission.”
FILE – UNMISS – 04 APRIL 2025, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
9. Wide shot, Juba IDP Camp
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“South Sudan has opened its doors, opened its borders and allowed anybody who is coming in to come in, which is something very commendable. Now having done that, South Sudan is not in a position to provide for them. Because already it's a country reeling under the youngest nation of the world reeling under such poverty that is unimaginable. Now in such a scenario where bulk of its population itself is in need of humanitarian aid, you have 1.1 million more people who are to be provided humanitarian aid. And this is happening in an overall worldwide scenario where funding for humanitarian support is dwindling.”
FILE – UNMISS – 15 APRIL 2025, PIBOR, SOUTH SUDAN
11. Various shots, stuck patrol vehicle
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“So when this situation goes on unabated like this, there will come a time when the humanitarian situation will tip off into a security situation. That is when violence may break out and we have deployed in these areas keeping in mind this possibility and to ensure that this sort of a tipping into a violent situation does not take place.”
FILE – UNMISS – 04 APRIL 2025, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
13. Med shot, UNMISS APC on Night Patrol
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“The misinformation can take any form. And, you know, can be orchestrated by interested parties to demean or to put the efforts to maintain peace in a disadvantage and create a situation where conflict can prosper. So, this is a serious threat.”
FILE – UNMISS – 04 APRIL 2025, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
15. Med shot, Juba IDP Camp and Nepalese Peacekeepers on patrol
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“Imagine, for instance, a displaced personnel camp which has got about 40,000 residents. If a fake message goes around in their WhatsApp or any other social media that they are facing danger of an attack from a particular armed faction. That would possibly cause these 40,000 people to just run away from their camps, pick up weapons if they have, and then act in a hostile manner in the city where in the township or in the village they live.”
FILE – UNMISS – 04 APRIL 2025, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
17. Wide shot, Juba IDP Camp
16 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“We have an information integrity working group in the mission which continuously monitors the social media and other media for such misinformation and wherever it is required for us to step in and clear the air, we do it.”
FILE – UNMISS – 04 APRIL 2025, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
19. Wide shot, Juba IDP Camp and Rwandese Peacekeeper keeping guard
The Force Commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) warned that “the situation today in South Sudan is perhaps the nearest to a situation which can result in a civil war.”
Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian in an interview with UN News on Tuesday (Apr 16) emphasized that the country has already endured “two civil wars before its independence and two after its independence” and that “there is no appetite for more suffering in the population.”
“They have suffered a lot due to civil wars,” he said. “So, we have to stop the civil war at whatever cost.”
Amid intensifying clashes and growing insecurity, the Force Commander underscored UNMISS’s primary mandate, “that is to protect innocent civilians trapped in conflict in South Sudan, including the internally displaced persons.”
With nearly three-quarters of the population in need of aid, he added that facilitating humanitarian assistance is equally critical. “9.3 million out of 12-13 million population are dependent upon humanitarian aid of some sort or the other,” he said, noting that “about 7.2 million people are dependent on it in a very acute manner.”
“If they are not provided support they may face death,” he warned. “Creating conditions conducive for delivery of humanitarian aid is also a priority for the mission.”
Subramanian also addressed the added strain caused by the refugee influx from neighboring countries. “South Sudan has opened its doors… which is something very commendable. Now having done that, South Sudan is not in a position to provide for them,” he said. With 1.1 million additional people in need of aid, and international funding shrinking, the general cautioned that the humanitarian situation might “tip off into a security situation.”
“That is when violence may break out,” he said, explaining that UNMISS has preemptively deployed forces in volatile areas “to ensure that this sort of a tipping into a violent situation does not take place.”
The Force Commander also highlighted the growing threat of misinformation, which he said could ignite panic and violence in already fragile communities. “Misinformation can take any form… to put the efforts to maintain peace in a disadvantage and create a situation where conflict can prosper. So, this is a serious threat.”
To mitigate this risk, UNMISS has set up an “information integrity working group” to monitor and respond to disinformation. “Wherever it is required for us to step in and clear the air, we do it,” Subramanian said.
