Arab Misseriya reiterate rejection of AU plans for referendum in Abyei
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July 13, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - The Misseriya Arab tribe have renewed their
rejection of the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP)
proposal for holding a referendum in Abyei area this October.
JPEG - 30.3 kb
FILE - People from the Misseriya tribe of the Abyei oil region protest
against the proposal of African Union (AU) mediator former South
African president Thabko Mbeki for a referendum to decide whether the
region belonged to Sudan or South Sudan, outside the United Nations
(U.N.) and AU headquarters in Khartoum November 28, 2012. (Reuters/
Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)
A referendum initially scheduled for January 2011 to decide the fate
of the Abyei border area failed to take place over disagreements
between Khartoum and Juba about who is eligible to participate in the
vote.
Last year, the AU mediation team proposed holding a referendum in
Abyei this October, but stated that only those residing permanently in
the area will be allowed to vote in the plebiscite and decide whether
they want to join Sudan or South Sudan.
This proposal would effectively make the majority of voters come from
the Dinka Ngok tribe, aligned with South Sudan thus putting the Arab
Misseriya nomads, who spend several months in Abyei every year for
grazing, at a disadvantage.
The Misseriya’s paramount chief, Mukhtar Babo Nimir, told the
pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) website on Saturday, that a
referendum without engaging the Misseriya will be doomed to failure.
He stressed that the Misseriya people are the true stakeholders in
Abyei, saying that they will never abandon their inherent right under
any circumstances.
Nimir further added that western countries’ alignment with South Sudan
on the issue of Abyei and their attempts to bypass solutions adopted
by the two countries would only drag the region to an endless
conflict.
The US government said that the only way the two countries can resolve
the impasse over the contested region of Abyei was through a
referendum.
The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, stressed in a meeting with
South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir last May that Juba and Khartoum
needed to stick to the AUHIP proposal..
Nimir pointed that in the absence of a local government, priority
should be given to establishing a joint administration in Abyei
including civil institutions and a legislative council, stressing that
the lasting solution lies in peaceful co-existence between the
Misseriya and Ngok Dinka.
South Sudan refuses the implementation of an agreement reached on 20
June 2011 to establish an interim administration in Abyei unless
Khartoum accepts to hold the referendum proposed by the AUHIP.
The Sudanese government rejects this process because it excludes the
Misseriya pastoralists from participating in the vote.
(ST)
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