Arab Misseriya reiterate rejection of AU plans for referendum in Abyei

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.

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)