Misseriya youth back down on counter-referendum in Abyei

November 3, 2013 (KHARTOUM/JUBA) – A Misseriya youth group on Sunday backed down on previous statements, saying they now had no intention of organising a counter-referendum in the disputed area of Abyei similar to that of the Nogk Dinka.

The National Youth and Student Organisation for Abyei (NYSOA) announced on the 29 October that they had started preparations to hold a plebiscite open to all the ethnic groups in Abyei in a bid to prove that the majority of its residents are in favour of remaining in Sudan.

However, NYSOA spokesperson Hamad Sidiq, who was speaking on a talk show about Abyei on Ashorooq TV on Sunday, stated they had no intention of conducting an unofficial and unilateral vote like the Ngok Dinka.

“We are messengers of peace. We have no intention to follow [spokesperson for the Abyei high referendum committee] Luka Biong and [head of the Abyei high referendum committee] Deng Alor who implement a scheme aiming to provoke president Salva Kiir”, he said.

The Sudanese co-chair of the Abyei steering committee, Al-Khair Al-Faheem, warned in a statement on 31 October that the Khartoum government would not support any unilateral vote to determine the fate of the disputed region, further calling for the formation of a joint administration in line with the 20 June 2011 deal.

Al-Faheem pointed out to the regional and international condemnation of the unilateral referendum of the Ngok Dinka, and mocked the organisers saying they did it because they are now marginalised in Juba.

Sadiq also denied that Misseriya fighters were mobilising to wage war against the Ngok Dinka, saying the group sought peaceful coexistence and a negotiated solution.

He went onto accuse some foreign countries and international NGOs of providing support to the operation.

According to the final results of the referendum announced on 31 October, 99.98% of people voted I favour of joining South Sudan.

On the same day, the paramount chief of the Ngok Dinka and the chiefs of their nine chiefdoms on signed a declaration stating their intention to become part of the Republic of South Sudan.

British volunteer Tim Flatman and his fiancé Hannah Cross said in a press release issued on 31 October that they were the only foreign observers to the unilateral referendum.

Flatman, who works with a local church to support displaced Ngok Dinka north of the river Kiir, described the vote as an “extraordinary achievement”.

“In many respects, the Abyei referendum exceeded the standards met by the South Sudanese referendum held in January 2011”, he said

In a statement issued on 1 November, the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) announced its support for the referendum process and called on the African Union (AU), United Nations and the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to formally recognise the outcome of the unilateral referendum.

“We call on the AU, UN, and the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to respect the decision of the people of Abyei”, said a statement signed by Rev Mark Akec Cien, the deputy general-secretary of the SSCC.

(ST)