Council calls on Sudan for civil, humanitarian services in Abyei

The High Council for the coordination of the affairs of the Dinka in Sudan’s contested Abyei area has demanded that the Sudanese government and the government of South Sudan implement the agreement signed between them on the administrative status of Abyei.

The Council has also called on the two governments to expedite the formation of civil and administrative institutions in the region.

At a news conference on Thursday in Khartoum, the head of the council, Schoal Moines, said that the administrative vacuum experienced by the region since the dissolution of the joint administration in 2011has reflected negatively on the situation of services in the Abyei region.

He demanded the Sudanese government provide urgent humanitarian services to the citizens and displaced persons in the region.

The Secretary-General of the Council of Manial Karbino Deng said that the council will work to end the isolation of people of the area to enjoy the rights of social economic and political services.

He called on both the Dinka and Misseriya tribes for coexistence, cooperation and brotherhood, because they are a cornerstone in the establishment of peace, security and stability.

Contested area

The oil-rich Abyei area, which lies on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, has been in contention between Sudan ever since the secession of South Sudan in 2011.

There is no government or police force. Its status has been unresolved after the governments failed to agree on the border division. A United Nations peacekeeping mission, the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), has monitored the situation since 2011. It is entrusted with overseeing demilitarisation and maintaining security.

In May this year, a rare historic meeting between Abyei’s Dinka Ngok and Misseriya tribes took place in Khartoum, to talk about peaceful coexistence.

The meeting was the first of its kind between the tribes. It witnessed “an overwhelming spirit of historic peaceful coexistence between leaders of the tribes”, said the head of the general Dinka Ngok council, Sultan Zakaria Atim.