Joint Troika Statement on the Attack in Abyei Region

From Norway in South Sudan

Royal Norwegian Embassy in Juba

Dated Wednesday, 03 January 2024 | Juba - here is a full copy:

Joint Troika Statement on the Attack in Abyei Region, December 31, 2023

The Embassies of Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States condemn the latest attack in the Abyei Administrative Area in which Deputy Administrator Noon Deng Nyok and several of his colleagues were killed on Sunday, December 31, 2023.

The use of violence as a tool for political or economic competition perpetuates a dangerous cycle and must be universally rejected by all South Sudanese leaders. This attack and all other incidents of violence should be investigated, and perpetrators held accountable.

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View original: https://www.norway.no/en/south-sudan/norway/news-events/joint-troika-statement-on-the-attack-in-abyei-region-december-31-2023/

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Related

Sudan Watch - January 03, 2024

Sudan & S. Sudan: Fiji's Merelea Dileba Drotini will be the second female going for the UNISFA in Abyei

Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew congratulated ASP Drotini for her appointment and reminded her of the image of the Fiji Police Force.

Full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/01/sudan-s-sudan-fijis-merelea-dileba.html

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Sudan Watch - January 02, 2024

Sudan & South Sudan: Six killed in disputed Abyei. MP calls for UNISFA to protect Abyei people in Abyei Box

“We are saying that the issue of Abyei and Twic is taking a different turn, it is like there are invisible hands behind the issue of land. We call on the South Sudan Government to swiftly form an investigation committee to probe the killing of the deputy administrator and the former minister,” Tabitha said. She further called on the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to protect the people of Abyei within the Abyei Box.

Full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/01/sudan-south-sudan-six-killed-in.html

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United Nations UNISFA Press Release - December 31, 2023

UNITED NATIONS INTERIM SECURITY FORCE FOR ABYEI CONDEMNS KILLING OF DEPUTY CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR

Abyei - 31 December 2023 - The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) strongly condemns the killing of Hon. Noon Deng Nyok, the Deputy Chief Administrator of Abyei, along with five other people during an ambush by an armed group at Wunpeth, near Agok. 

The Deputy Chief Administrator was known for his dedication to community service and commitment to fostering unity and peace. UNISFA extends its deepest condolences to his colleagues, including the Chief Administrator and members of Abyei Administration, as well as his family, friends and the wider community who are deeply affected by this tragic loss.  

This act of appalling and senseless violence risks the gains that have been made towards resolving the difficult situation in Southern Abyei. It is also stark reminder of the ongoing challenges faced in securing and maintaining peace across the Abyei region.

UNISFA calls on all parties to exercise restraint and collaborate in bringing the perpetrators of this crime to justice. The mission reaffirms its commitment to supporting local authorities in their efforts to promote reconciliation, stability, and the rule of law.

As the Abyei community comes to terms with this loss, UNISFA calls for a renewed focus and commitment to the pursuit of sustainable peace in Abyei. In this regard, the mission will continue all efforts to deliver on its mandate to help create a secure and stable environment where all people can enjoy peace and prosperity.

View original: https://unisfa.unmissions.org/united-nations-interim-security-force-abyei-condemns-killing-deputy-chief-administrator

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ENDS

Sudan & S. Sudan: Fiji's Merelea Dileba Drotini will be the second female going for the UNISFA in Abyei

UN peacekeepers risk their lives for people in countries far from home. They are well respected. Any attack on a peacekeeper constitutes a war crime. 

From FBC News, Fiji
By Ema Ganivatu
Dated Wednesday, January 3, 2024, 5:44 AM

ASP Drotini leaving for UN Mission

Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew (left), Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police Merelea Dileba Drotini 

[Source: Fiji Police Force/ Facebook]

Officer in Charge of Criminal Records Office, Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police Merelea Dileba Drotini will be the second female going for the United Nations Interim Security Forces in Abyei.

Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew congratulated ASP Drotini for her appointment and reminded her of the image of the Fiji Police Force.

Chew has also advised ASP Drotini to make the most of any training chances during her time in the mission areas.

ASP Drotini will be departing our shores for UNISFA this Friday.

View original: https://www.fbcnews.com.fj/news/asp-drotini-leaving-for-un-mission/

ENDS

Sudan & South Sudan: Six killed in disputed Abyei. MP calls for UNISFA to protect Abyei people in Abyei Box

STRADDLING an ill-defined border between Sudan and South Sudan, oil-rich Abyei has been claimed by both countries since Juba declared independence from Khartoum in 2011. 

Tabitha Chol, an MP representing Abyei in the Council of States, alleged of a systematic scheme, targeting of constitutional post holders from Abyei by elements from the neighbouring Twic County. She said a former minister from Abyei was also killed in a similar ambush in November last year. 

“We are saying that the issue of Abyei and Twic is taking a different turn, it is like there are invisible hands behind the issue of land. We call on the South Sudan Government to swiftly form an investigation committee to probe the killing of the deputy administrator and the former minister,” Tabitha said. She further called on the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to protect the people of Abyei within the Abyei Box.

Read more in the four articles here below.

From Reuters
Reporting by Waakhe Simon Wudu

Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Jan Harvey
Dated Monday, January 1, 2024, 9:39 AM GMT - here is a copy in full:

Six killed in disputed region bordering Sudan, South Sudan

JUBA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Six people including a senior local administrator were killed in an ambush by armed men in the Abyei region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, local officials said.

The oil-rich region experiences frequent bouts of violence, where rival factions of the Dinka ethnic group - Twic Dinka from South Sudan's neighbouring Warrap State, and Ngok Dinka from Abyei - are locked in a dispute over the location of an administrative boundary.

Abyei Deputy Chief Administrator Noon Deng and his team came under attack along the road from Abyei to Aneet town when they were returning from an official visit to Rummamer county, where they were celebrating the New Year, government officials said.

"His driver and two bodyguards plus two people of national security were all killed," Tereza Chol, a South Sudanese lawmaker, told Reuters.

Bulis Koch, the information minister for Abyei Administrative Area, blamed the Sunday evening attack on armed youth from Twic County of Warrap State, and said the bodies had not been retrieved as of Monday morning.

His counterpart in the Warrap State William Wol said it was still early "to point fingers".

The incident is the latest in a region where dozens were killed in ethnic clashes in November.

Straddling an ill-defined border between Sudan and South Sudan, Abyei has been claimed by both countries since Juba declared independence from Khartoum in 2011.

It has a special administrative status, governed by an administration comprising officials appointed by both countries.

South Sudan erupted into civil war shortly after independence, which pitted President Salva Kiir and his allies against his Vice President Riek Machar.

A peace agreement signed in 2018 is largely holding, but the transitional government has been slow to unify the various factions of the military.

Reporting by Waakhe Simon Wudu; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Jan Harvey

View original: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/six-killed-disputed-region-bordering-sudan-south-sudan-2024-01-01/

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Related Reports

Radio Tamazuj - January 2, 2024 

Juba: MPs want inquest into Abyei administrator’s killing - here is an excerpt and map:

Tabitha Chol, an MP representing Abyei in the Council of States, alleged of a systematic scheme, targeting of constitutional post holders from Abyei by elements from the neighbouring Twic County. She said a former minister from Abyei was also killed in a similar ambush in November last year. “We are saying that the issue of Abyei and Twic is taking a different turn, it is like there are invisible hands behind the issue of land. We call on the South Sudan Government to swiftly form an investigation committee to probe the killing of the deputy administrator and the former minister,” Tabitha said. She further called on the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to protect the people of Abyei within the Abyei Box.

View full story: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/juba-mps-want-inquest-into-abyei-administrators-killing

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Radio Tamazuj - January 1, 2024

Opinion piece by Morris Kuol Yoll - here are some excerpts and map:

Abyei Box is a distortion of the boundary between Sudan and South Sudan

The northern boundary, known as the “Kordofan-Barh el Gazal boundary,” refers to the boundary between the Sudan and South Sudan north of Abyei. This boundary separates Ngok and Messirya. The Southern boundary between Barh el Gazal and Kordofan, as of 1 January 1956, is known as the Kiir River and separates Ngok of Abyei and Twic County. 

The boundary between Twic Dinka of Barh el Gazal and Ngok Dinka of Kordofan, Sudan, was left as it is according to The Hague's arbitration awards ruling of 22 July 2009, as stipulated in the following document: “In respect of the ABC Experts’ decision that “[t]he southern boundary shall be the Kordofan – Bahr el-Ghazal – Upper Nile boundary as it was defined on 1 January 1956,” the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate” (Report of International Arbitration Awards, P.413).

The Southern Sudan Boundary Background report recommends that the Southern boundary between Twic and Ngok be resolved after 2011 and recommends that physical landmarks be developed to help when the demarcation of this boundary comes forth in the future.

The ABC's "Southern Sudan Boundary Background" report does not refer to the map of the Sudan, which indicates the 1 January 1956 boundary running through the Kiir River, but another map (the current Abyei Box) that crossed the Kiir River with undefined physical boundaries, and a map with no "topography” or landmarks, a map that according to the ABC report could pose problems when the time to demarcate the boundary between Twic County and Abyei Special Administration arrives.

View full story: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/opinion-abyei-box-is-a-distortion-of-the-boundary-between-sudan-and-south-sudan

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Sudan Watch - January 10, 2009

Former Wall Street banker Philippe Heilberg gambles on a warlord's continuing control of 400,000 hectares of land in South Sudan (Update 1) - here are two excerpts:

There are few regions in Africa as remote and undeveloped as southern Sudan. Unity state, where Philippe Heilberg says he has secured a huge tract of arable land, is inaccessible even by south Sudan's standards.

Jarch Management Group is linked to Jarch Capital, a US investment company that counts on its board former state department and intelligence officials, including Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador and expert on Africa, who acts as vice-chairman; and Gwyneth Todd, who was an adviser on the Middle East and north Africa at the Pentagon and under Bill Clinton at the White House.

View full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/former-wall-street-banker-philippe.html

ENDS

South Sudan named in most dangerous countries to visit - “security” highest warning level of “extreme”

Report from The Independent - independent.co.uk/news/world
By Helen Coffey
Dated Friday, 15 December 2023 - here is a copy in full:

World’s most dangerous countries to visit in 2024 revealed

Lebanon, Palestinian Territories and Russia have all seen notable risk rating increases

The world’s most dangerous countries to visit in 2024 have been revealed in a new study.

South Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Somalia were named as the riskiest nations in the 2024 risk map compiled by medical and security consultancy International SOS.

The annual map assesses various factors to inform travellers and businesses about potential threats in countries across the globe.

It pulls together medical and security risk ratings, reflecting the impact of events such as the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas.

This year, for the first time, the map also includes ratings based on the dangers of climate change, after International SOS saw a rising trend in the number of climate-related alerts being issued to clients as rising global temperatures increased health risks around the world.

The data, compiled by Inform (a collaboration between the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and Joint Research Centre of European Commission), estimates the future risk of humanitarian crises and disasters caused by climate change.

“Just one example, the extreme heat events this year, with the first ever named heatwave Cerberus hitting Europe, may become commonplace,” said Dr Irene Lai, global medical director at International SOS.

“In addition to the physical impacts of extreme heat, there can be significant negative effects on mental health. It is essential businesses plan for this, adapting our way of living and working to protect health, while also taking steps to slow and eventually reverse the trend in rising temperatures.”

Countries were graded for each category of risk – medical, security and climate change – on a five-level scale ranging from “low” to “very high” for medical and climate change, and “insignificant” to “extreme” for security.

For “security”, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Somalia were all given the highest warning level of “extreme”.

Parts of Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Russia and across the Sahel all saw increases in security risk, alongside Ecuador and parts of Colombia following a rise in criminality and unrest.

View original: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/most-dangerous-countries-world-2024-b2464568.html

END

S. Sudan: UNSC condemns violence in Warrap State, Abyei underscoring the importance of UNISFA role

From Radio Tamazuj
Dated Tuesday, 12 December 2023 - here is a copy in full:

UN Security Council condemns violence in Warrap State, Abyei

The members of the UN Security Council on Monday [11 Dec] strongly condemned the violence in Warrap State in South Sudan and the southern parts of the Abyei Administrative Area that claimed approximately 75 lives in November 2023, and 10 lives in Abyei in early December 2023 respectively.

In a statement extended to Radio Tamazuj, the members of the Security Council noted with grave concern the continued presence of some forces as well as armed elements of the local communities in Abyei, and reiterated that the Abyei Area be fully demilitarized without delay, recalling in this regard the 2011 Agreement and relevant Security Council resolutions.

“The members of the Security Council echo the calls of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, stressing the need for the transitional government of South Sudan to investigate the killings and attacks on civilians in Warrap and the Abyei Area,” the statement read in part. “They call on the transitional government of South Sudan to contain the violence and defuse tension between the affected communities.”

“The members of the Security Council underscore the important role the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) should play in the protection of civilians, including refugees, and in supporting community dialogue and facilitating reconciliation, and with the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM) in support of achieving peace, security, and stability in Abyei and the broader region,” it concluded.

View original: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/un-security-council-condemns-violence-in-warrap-state-abyei

END

Abyei in Sudan & South Sudan: UNISFA peacekeepers are on high alert to ensure peace and security in Abyei

Today, @UNISFA_1 military observers carried out routine vehicle and foot patrols across villages in southern #Abyei. UNISFA peacekeepers are on high alert as they ensure peace and security in #Abyei. pic.twitter.com/ck6TJTWBXM

— UNISFA (@UNISFA_1) December 7, 2023

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Related

Map showing oil rich Abyei Area on the border of Sudan and South Sudan:

The Abyei Area (Arabic: منطقة أبيي) is an area of 10,546 km² or 4,072 sq mi^[2] on the border between South Sudan and Sudan that has been accorded "special administrative status" by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict (Abyei Protocol) in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War.^[3] The capital of the Abyei Area is Abyei Town. Under the terms of the Abyei Protocol, the Abyei Area is considered, on an interim basis, to be simultaneously part of both the Republic of South Sudan and Republic of Sudan, effectively a condominium. -Wikipedia

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THIS ACLED map shows Abyei near E. Darfur and W. Kordofan in Sudan:

Source: UN OCHA Sudan Humanitarian Update 7 Dec 2023

To view a larger map visit the original report and click on

Download attachment

(PDF | 1.08 MB) 

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Sudan

ACLED update on Sudan situation 28 Oct - 24 Nov 2023

'Unravelling the conflict dynamics in Darfur' 

https://acleddata.com/2023/12/01/sudan-situation-update-december-2023-unraveling-the-conflict-dynamics-in-darfur/

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South Sudan

UN OCHA latest report on South Sudan

'Severity of humanitarian conditions and number of people in need'

Download report with map: https://www.unocha.org/south-sudan

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Abyei Area on the border of Sudan and South Sudan

ACLED analysis on Abyei Area March 2023

'Deadly violence in the disputed Abyei Area'

https://acleddata.com/2023/03/17/sudan-march-2023-situation-update-deadly-violence-in-the-disputed-abyei-area/

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