Elders from the oil producing and contested Abyei area are asking for provision of good health services and investment in manufacturing to stop the flow of migration to Sudan.

The Abyei today newsletter quoted Chief Bagat Makuac of Manyuar, one of nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms, as saying a few things could be done locally by the government such as opening a factory to produce cooking oil, soap, clothes and shoes.

Migrating to Sudan, according to the chief, was not the solution but that solidarity and hard work is what is needed. Some people say they have seen relatives or neighbours selling their sorghum products for this year and leaving their lands towards Sudan. Migrants are complaining about the economic situation and the high price of commodities that their farm produces cannot cover.

Anyiel Miyen, a mother of four children, according to the Abyei Today, packed her bags of sorghum on a cart headed to the market, where sold and used  the money for tickets to Khartoum because she doesn’t have enough food for next year.

Another woman Ajok Deng living in Nhial Chour said she was migrating to Sudan to seek treatment and will return before the beginning of next cultivation season.