Dinka Ngok threaten to block Misseriya migration over Abyei stalemate

Representatives of the Dinka Ngok clans from the Abyei area threatened to prevent Misseriya nomads from entering the Abyei area if the stalemate over the Abyei Referendum will not have been solved before the end of this month. The threat was voiced at the conclusion of the Ngok Dinka consultation in Juba last week.

As voter registration continues in South Sudan, no preparations for the poll have yet begun in Abyei, because the Abyei Referendum Commission has not been formed. Ngok Dinka leaders demanded that the Sudanese Presidency issue a decree to govern the conduct of the referendum before the end of November, or else they would block the Misseriya migration.

Musa Hamdeen, a leader of the National Congress Party and member of the Misseriya Union, considered that such a move would constitute a declaration of war. He said that they would respond strongly. The Ngok Dinka conference had recommended also that if the peace partners (SPLM and NCP) fail to reach agreement before the end of the month, leaders in Abyei Town would unilaterally conduct a referendum. They affirmed their willingness to bear the consequences of blocking the Misseriya from their dry season grazing lands, and stated they would be ready for any further developments.

The Misseriya migrate annually from their homeland in western Kordofan to dry season grazing lands in Abyei. Despite insistence by the National Congress Party, their right to vote in the upcoming Abyei referendum is being challenged by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, on the grounds that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) says that Abyei belongs to the Ngok Dinka. The CPA’s Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict defines the residents of Abyei as “the Members of Ngok Dinka community and other Sudanese residing in the area.” It also states that “the criteria of residence shall be worked out by the Abyei Referendum Commission,” a body that does not yet exist because of disputes over whom to appoint.

Salva Kiir Mayardit, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, has asked Ngok Dinka leaders and youths to refrain from taking matters into their own hands, and to allow the SPLM to negotiate the issue with Khartoum. The South’s ruling party is likely maintain its hard-line position on Abyei; several top leaders in SPLM are from Abyei, and Kiir himself is a native of Dinka Rek territory, which is just south of Abyei.

Correction: When this article appeared, it stated that Salva Kiir Mayardit was a native of Dinka Twic. This is incorrect. He is Dinka Rek.