Unity State urges Nuba refugees to leave Yida for fear of attacks from Sudan
By Bonifacio Taban Kuich
January 7, 2011 (BENTIU) – The governor of South Sudan’s Unity state, Taban Deng Gai, has called upon Sudanese refugees to leave Yida camp and move to a more secure location due to security threats.
The United Nation’s refugee agency (UNHCR) has said that they are not able to deliver services to the refugees in Yida because of insecurity. Late last year the Sudan Armed Forces bombed Yida Camp drawing international criticism.
South Kordofan’s rebels are from the northern sector of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-N). The rebels say they have severed ties with the southern sector of the movement, which is the ruling party of newly independent South Sudan.
Khartoum, however, says that Juba is supporting their formers allies. Sudan has also denied bombing Yida Camp claiming that there are no Sudanese refugees in South Sudan and that they only attacked rebels on the north side of the contested and poorly demarcated new international border.
The UN estimate that over 10,000 refugees are seeking shelter in Unity state from the South Kordofan conflict and fighting between the SPLM-N the Sudanese army (SAF) in Blue Nile state, which began in August.
The SPLM-N’s rebellion and skirmishes along the border have increased tensions between the two countries. Over two million died in the two-decade conflict between the SPLM and Khartoum, which ended in a 2005 peace deal. The agreement allowed South Sudan to secede but meant that SPLM supporters north of the border would still be governed by Khartoum.
Governor Deng on Saturday urged refugees from the Nuba Mountains to consider the UNHCR’s request to move further away from the volatile border area so that they could receive health, education and other services in an area called Nyal.
The governor, while briefing UN agencies in his office, added that the Sudanese military know Yida very well from the civil war and would be capable of mounting a ground offensive as well as bombing the area using Antinov aircraft.
Governor Deng said “it would be wise to leave this area empty” as it was vulnerable to raids and attack.
But many leaders of the Nuba refugees have refused several requests from UNHCR to relocate.
Khartoum claim that the area is in north Sudan, while Juba says the area of Jau/Jaw is South Sudanese. Demarcation of the contested border is one of the issues to be discussed when the two sides reconvene post-independence negotiations this month.
The governor also accused the Sudanese government of arming the militias across the border in South Kordofan state, with the intention that they will attack Unity state.
Deng said that rebels in Unity state had spread fear among Unity state civilians by attacking towns and planting landmines, which South Sudan claim are provided by Khartoum.
He said that South Sudan’s army (SPLA) would be able to deal with any cross border attack.
Deng warned the Khartoum government: “no more bombing in the South Sudanese territory”.
On 1 January the spokesperson of the South Sudanese government, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, accused Sudan’s military (SAF) of bombing Raja County of Western Bahr-al-Ghazal state killing nearly 40 people.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Wednesday, described the Republic of Sudan as the “main challenge” to the world’s newest nation.
“All our challenges come from Sudan”, he said, adding that landlocked South Sudan had peaceful relations with its other five neighbours.
Sudan remained a “thorn” in South Sudan’s side as the country struggles to recover from decades of conflict and underdevelopment.
(ST)