Abyei Youth Call for Immediate Termination of UNISFA Mandate in Sudan

Sudanese Al-Amer Mokhtar Papo (R) a leader of the Misserya ethnic group and his counterpart from the Dinka Ngok group, Kual Deng Majok shake hands after signing a peace agreement in the town of Kadugli north of Abeyi on January 13, 2011., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

MONDAY 13 MAY 2013

Abyei youth call for immediate termination of UNISFA mandate

May 12, 2013 (JUBA) - The leadership of a youth group from the oil-contested border region of Abyei have called for the immediate termination of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA), claiming the mission has failed to live up to its obligations since its establishment two years ago.

Mijak Kuol”, senior member of the Abyei Youth Union (AYU), told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that UNISFA’s role had become redundant in the face of ongoing violence in the region, particularly the killing of the Ngok Dinka paramount chief Kuol Deng Kuol on 4 April.

The chief was killed after a convoy he was travelling in under the protection of UNISFA was ambushed by members of the rival Arab Misseriya tribe, in an attack the Sudanese government is accused of masterminding.

“There is no point to have [the] United Nations [peace]keeping force in Abyei. The situation started to deteriorate after deployment. Many of our people are killed in the presence of the so called peacekeeping force. People are killed within the vicinity of the UN camp in Abyei, which has never happened before. The living example was the killing of our chief in their hands”, said Kuol, who also cited the killing of Awet Ngor, a native of the Mulmul area, days before the chief was shot dead. UNISFA’s base is located in the Mulmul area.

“Awet Ngor was killed in Mulmul just about two minutes walking distance to the UN camp. This has never happened before”, the youth leader said.

“We have asked our government to quickly terminate the mandate of this mission. This was our message which [we] gave the minister of cabinet affairs, Deng Alor Kuol, to deliver to our president [Salva Kiir]. We also conveyed the same message to the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Nhial Deng Nhial, when he came to attend the burial of our chief”, he added.

The comments come as the South Sudanese government on Saturday rejected forming a joint administration with the Sudanese government in Abyei, accusing Khartoum of having “killed the spirit of dialogue” by assassinating the area’s paramount chief.

Deng Mading Mijak, the co-chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC) representing South Sudan, has also called for a “review of the mandate of the mission”, saying the security situation in the area continued to deteriorate despite the presence of peacekeeping troops.

“The mandate of this mission should be reviewed. Our government should take it seriously. Our people are no longer feeling they can be protected by the United Nations troops in Abyei if their chief was killed in their hands”, Mijak told reporters on Saturday at a news conference in Juba.

Meanwhile, in a letter of protest signed by civil society organisations and obtained by Sudan Tribune, civil rights activists, as well as members of union groups representing youth, traders, women, farmers and teachers, issued UNISFA with a 24-hour ultimatum to remove Sudanese UN personnel working in the area, claiming they were security agents.

“We are asking UNISFA to immediately send away the security agents who are camouflaging as UN personnel in Abyei. We know them one by one because some of them were here [before]. We know them and they know themselves very well that they are not ordinary citizens. They are security agents”, the protest letter dated 9 May reads in part.

The letter also calls on the UN mission, relief organisations and other agencies working in the area to stop hiring Sudanese nationals.

“We are asking UNISFA to stop hiring and hosting of employees from Sudan because we consider it as part of the Arab Misseriya settlement plan in [the] Dinka area. This is a plan by the government of Sudan”, the letter adds in part.

An referendum initially scheduled for January 2011 to decide the fate of the Abyei area failed to take place over disagreements between the two countries about who was eligible to participate in the vote.

In a bid to break the deadlock, the African Union (AU) last year, proposed that the plebiscite go ahead this October, but only for those permanently residing in the area. The decision effectively excludes the Misseriya nomads, who enter the area periodically during the year to graze their cattle, from participating, with the Southern-aligned Dinka Ngok expected to vote in favour of joining South Sudan.

(ST)