Returnees from Abyei residing in the ‘New Khartoum’ settlement of Kwajok are determined to vote in a referendum on the status of their homeland in spite of the killing of their paramount chief two weeks ago.

The population of ‘New Khartoum’ in the Warrap State capital consists almost entirely of returnees deported from Sudan in recent years, including many people originally from Abyei. Some returnees have spent decades in the north. Few of them feel confident enough yet to move back to Abyei permanently and build their houses there.

But they say that they would return to their disputed homeland in order to vote in the referendum, the date of which has not yet been agreed. The killing of the Ngok Dinka head chief has only strengthened this resolve, said Deng Pabuat Deng, who left Khartoum last year to return to South Sudan.

He said that the death of Kuol had a ‘devastating effect’ on the community of New Khartoum, which is also known as Mayen Gumel. The news reached the community late on the night of May 4, the same day Kuol Deng Kuol was killed by Misseriya gunmen in Abyei.

Pabuat could not sleep that night: “I was thinking about Kuol and how he was the first Ngok Dinka leader to go back to Abyei. He was the first chief to call on the citizens to return. He was facing so many problems and had a huge responsibility. I was wondering that night, who would ever be willing to do the same for us?”

He pointed out that “many people” from Mayen Gumel already travelled to Abyei to attend the funeral a week ago and decided to stay and await the referendum. An elderly woman who went to attend the funeral but returned to Kwajok afterwards stressed “we are going to the referendum, no matter what happened or what is going to happen in the future.”

The death of the chief ‘motivated’ Jonkor Ayuel, who belongs to the Anyuar tribe of Abyei, to plan his travel to Abyei to vote in the referendum. “Killing our chief will not stop us from voting. We know that any father can die and his children will remain. The citizens of Abyei will remain and they are going to vote to separate from the North,” he said.

However, few preparations are underway in Mayen Gumel for a mass return in the near future, despite appeals by local authorities in Abyei. “The authorities know why people ran away,” explained Ayuel. “They should understand that if the place really were safe, there would be no need to make such requests. We would return voluntarily if the place were safe enough to raise our children.”

According to Deng Pabuat Deng, peace and security in Abyei is only within reach if people sit down and discuss the issue peacefully: “We do not want to fight the Misseriya or have any other violent acts, so we are asking our government to settle the case.” 

Until a political settlement is reached, he elaborated, he is not willing to build tukuls for his family in Abyei: “A long time ago we built our houses in Abyei, but they were burned down. We cannot risk our house being burned down another time.”

File photo: A returnee settlement in Kwajok (Radio Tamazuj)