Abyei community warns of unilateral action against Misseriya

November 19, 2013 (JUBA) – Community leaders from Abyei have threatened to take unilateral actions against any move by the Misseriya to settle in the disputed area, unless both the United Nations and African Union intervene in the matter.

“Settlement activity must stop because it is not justified. It is actually the project of the government of Sudan because it wants to change the demographic of the area, by trying to curve part of the area within the territory identified by the permanent of arbitrary as part of the Ngok area”, Deng Kuol, a member of the civil Society Organization in the area said on Tuesday.

Kuol said the October conference unanimously agreed in principle and demanded an end to Misseriya settlement activity and asked to put pressure on the international community, particularly the UN and AU to stop Sudan from “sponsoring” illegal activities.

“This was one of the resolutions of the October conference. It was agreed that our leadership should work together with the government of South Sudan to put bearing pressure on the United Nations and the African Union to stop the government of Sudan from sponsoring illegal activities, otherwise nothing would prevent people from defending their land,” Kuol told Sudan Tribune from Agok, an area south of Abyei town, the administrative headquarters of the region.

He also vowed that his community would not allow partitioning of the area, saying they have already expressed their will to return to South Sudan where the region was transferred to Kordofan province in Sudan during the colonial rule in 1905 for administrative purposes.

“No. No. There is nothing like that. There is no more partitioning. We will never concede even an inch of the area which has been defined as our land by the permanent court of Arbitration at The Hague as it came in its July 22, 2009. That ruling was final and binding and it was accepted by both the parties,” stressed the official.

The government of Sudan accepted and the SPLM [Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement, which was authorised by the Ngok leadership to talk on their behalf accepted, he added.

Kuol said this in reaction to queries as to whether his community would accept partitioning of the area as part of solutions to the conflict over the area, where both Sudan and South Sudan have failed to reach a consensus on its final status.

“Our position is known. We will not this claim by the government of Sudan. We have already expressed our will and this should be respected. The international community should really do something by recognising our referendum results if they need us to peaceful coexist in peace and security with all our neighbours”, Kuol said.

They should take ‘concrete and enforceable measures, he added.

Meanwhile, Kuol repeatedly avoided questions on what could have possibly led to South Sudan’s sudden change of its position on the outcome of last month’s referendum in Abyei, in which 99% of the Ngok Dinka voted to be part of the south.

(ST)