The Anyuak community in Juba said it submitted to the Technical Boundaries Committee (TBC) documents identifying local and international borders in Jonglei region last week.
John Opiew, the community chairperson in Juba, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that they submitted documents detailing borders of the Anyuak tribe with their neighbors as they stood on January 1, 1956.
“We, the Anyuak tribe from Akobo and Pochalla submitted the documents showing our borders with Ethiopia and the neighboring communities. We do not have problems with any community, only that our boundaries are not as they were drawn in 1956,” said Opiew.
“Some people have encroached into our borders,” he explained.
Opiew said they believe in peaceful settlement of border disputes. “Hopefully, through national dialogue and with return of peace, all communities will have their problems solved,” he said.
Under the revitalized peace deal, the Technical Boundaries Committee is tasked to define and demarcate the tribal areas of South Sudan as they stood on 1 January 1956 and the tribal areas in dispute in the country.
The committee, upon completing its work, is expected to present its report, including dissenting views, if any, to the mediation team from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
The Anyuak, a Luo Nilotic ethnic group, live in Akobo and Pochalla areas of Jonglei region and in Ethiopia’s Gambella region.