Voting began on Sunday for the referendum on independence for South Sudan, a major provision of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the 22 year civil war between the north and south. While the CPA also called for a simultaneous referendum in the contested Abyei region, this second poll will likely not take place due to a political stalemate on voter eligibility.

Abyei is the disputed region between north and south Sudan and home to the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya tribes. The Misseriya are a nomadic Arab tribe who seasonally migrate through Abyei in order to reach grazing lands for their cattle. The Ngok Dinka permanently reside in Abyei and historically have allowed the Misseriya to travel through their lands to reach the Kiir river. However, during the north-south civil war, the Ngok Dinka fought on the side of South and the Misseriya fought for the North and many of the leaders from both the NCP and SPLM are from each of the tribes. The most recent major violence occurred in 2008 when the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied militias deliberately attacked Ngok Dinka civilians in Abyei displacing over 60,000 civilians and destroying half of Abyei town.

Fighting between the two reignited on January 7^th and lasted until the 9^th, resulting in the deaths of at least 33 people in several villages north of Abyei town.  A renewal of conflict, especially in Abyei, could hold drastic ramifications for the rest of Sudan since even small scale violence could easily escalate. Fortunately, according to Deng Arop, head of the Abyei Administration, both tribes agreed to end hostilities on Monday. While this is certainly good news, both of the Dinka and Misseriya have repeatedly made threats which may jeopardize peace in the region. The Dinka announced in late November that they might unilaterally hold their own referendum. The Misseriya have also threatened to return to war unless they are able to vote in any referendum, a development that the Dinka vehemently oppose.

Despite the agreement signed on Monday, violence in Abyei has not subsided. Yesterday, a convoy of buses bringing Southern returnees from the north back to their communities in the South was attacked, allegedly by Misseriya militias, killing at least 10 civilians and seriously injuring another 18.

Since the parties have failed to come to an agreement on the eligibility of the Misseriya, it is now likely that the Abyei issue will be solved in a political agreement and possibly be used as a bargaining chip with the other post-referendum issues such as wealth sharing, border delineation, and division of debt. The African Union High Level Implementation Panel for Sudan (AUHIP) led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki has led negotiations between the parties; however, little progress has been made.

Relations between the parties remain tense and certainly have the possibility of deteriorating if the parties do not come to the table soon and make tangible contributions to resolve the Abyei problem and other post-referendum issues.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.

Tags: Abyei, Misseriya, Ngok Dinka, Referendum, Sudan

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 at 12:16 pm and is filed under Human Rights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.