SUDAN / ABYEI BORDER (02:51)

8 July 2009

SUDAN / ABYEI BORDER (02:51)

Abyei market is seeing some activity with new stalls increasing the variety of goods available for its residents, but all is not necessarily well. With just weeks to the anticipated discussion on where the borders of Sudan's disputed oil rich region lie, opinions are divided on who is the rightful owner of the land. UNMIS

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Full Script

STORY: SUDAN / ABYEI BORDER
TRT:  2:51
SOURCE: UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 7 JULY 2009, ABYEI

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, People walking in the market place 
2.  Med shot, man seated at his shop
3.  Close up, man’s face to beaded ornaments being sold
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashir Ahmed Adam:
 “Right now we don’t have southerners or Arabs; we are living in Abyei as one people. We have no biases. We are free to move where we want just like our grandparents used to do. There is no problem whether you are Misseriya, Dinka or from any other tribe. We are all Sudanese.”
5. Wide shot, men inside a shop
6. Close up, tools for sale
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gabriel Ring Mayam Deng:
“Our problem is the ownership of the land. This is a political conflict. It is well known that Abyei belongs to the nine Dinka Ngok tribes.”
8. Tracking shot, Abyei town
9. Wide shot, boy cycles away
10. Close up, man digging
11. Med shot, man digging
12. Wide shot, inside hospital
13. Med shot, patients being undergoing treatment
14. Close up, patients hand
15. Close up, drips
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nyakir Pateti Ayoh, Nurse:
“There is lack of doctors now. Before the fight the doctors from organizations were working here, they were foreigners and they were managing the hospital in a right way. It was better those days.”
17. Wide shot, Abyei area Administrator arrives
18. Med shot, Abyei area Administrator greets people
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Arop Moyak, Abyei Area Administrator:
“For the general men, people are frustrated, people are thinking again if there are going to be some problems in the areas of security, then it will take the people back to the zero level and everybody is concerned. If you have seen the town there is no difference between the Abyei of last year and the one of this year. It is the same because nobody is ready to put up a hut leave alone a proper building. Everybody is waiting to see what is going to be the reaction of a losing party if the verdict is out.” 
20. Wide shot, UN delegation arrives in Abyei 
21. Med shot, UN delegation arrives in Abyei
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Ashraf Qazi, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Sudan (UNMIS):
“We have learned from the experience of last year what needs to be done. The local authority, they are aware of the challenges and the risks and we have told them that we can and that we are here to help them. We are reinforcing our capability to help them but they have the primary responsibility.”
23. Wide shot, car drives away

STORYLINE:

Abyei market is seeing some activity with new stalls increasing the variety of goods available for its residents, but all is not necessarily well. With just weeks to the anticipated discussion on where the borders of Sudan’s disputed oil rich region lie, opinions are divided on who is the rightful owner of the land.

Dinka Ngok believe that Abyei area is their traditional home, but Arab Misseriya nomads have a claim on the land having had for decades grazed their cattle there during the their migrations seasons. The border issue has always been one close to both communities way of life.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashir Ahmed Adam:
“Right now we don’t have southerners or Arabs; we are living in Abyei as one people. We have no biases. We are free to move where we want to just like our grandparents used to. There is no problem whether you are Misseriya, Dinka or others. We are all Sudanese.”

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gabriel Ring Mayam Deng:
“Our problem is the ownership of the land. This is a political conflict. It is well known that Abyei belongs to the nine Dinka Ngok tribes.”

Abyei’s boarders have been a source of tensions between the National Congress party (NCP) in the north and their southern partners, the Sudan People’s Liberations Movement (SPLM). Upon signing the Comprehensive Peace agreement that ended Sudan’s civil war between the north and the south in 2005, the parties agreed to an Abyei Border Commission responsible to defining and demarcating the Abyei boundaries, but its findings were rejected by the NCP, which claimed the ABC exceeded its mandate.

In May last year fighting erupted in Abyei town and deteriorated very quickly into a serious confrontation between the northern and southern armies leaving the town totally destroyed and displacing up to 50,000 people.  To solve the problem a deal known as the “Abyei Road Map” was reached and a new administration set up in the region. The border dispute was taken to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to solve the problem once and for all. Both parties have submitted their cases and the judgment is expected before the end of the month.

Since the signing of the road map not much has changed on the ground, most of those who fled have still not returned and the new administration lacks funds needed to provide basic services for its people. The main hospital in Abeyi town lacks personnel and medicines, making it even harder for those who have chose to come back to the town to get treatment.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nyakir Pateti Ayoh, Nurse:
“There is lack of doctors now. Before the fight the doctors from organizations were working here, they were foreigners and they were managing the hospital in a right way. It was better those days.”

The Abyei administrator says that people are frustrated at the fact that things are moving slow and concerned about what the decision might bring.

SOUNDBITE (English) Arop Moyak, Abyei Area Administrator:
“For the general men, people are frustrated, people are thinking again if there are going to be some problems in the areas of security, then it will take the people back to the zero level and everybody is concerned. If you have seen the town there is no difference between the Abyei of last year and the one of this year. It is the same because nobody is ready to put up a hut leave alone a proper building. Everybody is waiting to see what is going to be the reaction of a losing party if the verdict is out.”

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, visited Abyei yesterday (7th July 2009) to hold meetings with the different players to discuss issues relating to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace agreement (CPA), Abyei Road Map and how to make further progress on the outstanding issues.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mr. Ashraf Qazi, Special Representative of the Secretary General, UNMIS:
“We have learned from the experience of last year what needs to be done. The local authority, they are aware of the challenges and the risks and we have told them that we can and that we are here to help them. We are reinforcing our capability to help them but they have the primary responsibility.”

Both the north and the south have agreed to uphold whatever decision the court in The Hague comes up with. The people of Abyei wait to see if their leaders stay true to their word and how the decision on the borders will affect their everyday life.

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