Force Commander for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Maj. Gen. Mohan Subramanian has arrived in Yambio, the capital of Western Equatoria State, to conduct an evaluation of the political and security landscape prevailing across the state.
Maj. Gen. Subramanian’s visit aims to appraise the situation and explore ways in which UNMISS can contribute to the safeguarding of civilians in the region.
During his arrival on Monday, Maj. Gen. Subramanian conveyed, “I have come to Yambio on my second visit. There is a new Ethiopian battalion which has come here a couple of months ago, and I want to get to know whether they have settled down. I also want to interact with the state leadership here, the Governor as well as UNMISS field office to get a sense of what the political and security situation is right now. If there is any challenge, we need to take care of it in the coming months. So my aim is to get all of this information.”
The Governor of Western Equatoria State, Gen. Alfred Futuyo, extended a warm welcome to the UNMISS team and emphasized their unrestricted access to various areas for comprehensive understanding. “Today (Monday), the commander of the new battalion came to visit me in the office. We had a fruitful discussion about the state. According to me, Western Equatoria State is secure and well-protected because I haven’t seen something bad. UNMISS knows, whether there is peace or not because an American man came yesterday and said he spent three days without anything wrong and where is the problem of South Sudan? I said the crisis in South Sudan is mostly on social media. People are writing things which are not on the ground,” Governor Futuyo asserted.
Gen. Futuyo emphasized, “I have granted them freedom and let them work freely to observe all around the state. If there is anything they want help with, let them do it. If they need patrol to Tambura, Mundri, anywhere, they are free, and if there is anything they have seen, they will come and tell us so that the state government can intervene to solve the problem.”
Maj. Gen. Subramanian’s assessment visit seeks to provide UNMISS with a firsthand understanding of the local situation, fostering effective cooperation with the state government to ensure the protection and well-being of civilians in Western Equatoria State.