Borderlands in Abyei

Presentation By:- Jack Dentith- John Fenning- Jess Hayes- Kellee Jacobs- Alessia Mura - Sam Rosmarin

May 2008

Over 300 buildings destroyed

May 2008

30-50 thousand people displaced

Research Question:

What is the nature of the conflict in Abyei?

THESIS STATEMENT:

The process of border formation in Sudan hasbeen critical in shaping the nature and level ofconflict Abyei in terms of its actors and stakes

Structure

• Borderland Framework• Analysis: Border Formation

– First Sudanese Civil War– State (Development) Policy– Oil– Conflict Interests and Perceptions– Hardening Identity Divide– International Diplomatic Effort and its Limits– Citizenship and Sovereignty

Timeline

• 1700s – first interaction between Ngok Dinka and Misserya

• 1905 – British transfer Abyei to Kordofan Province in the North

• 1955-1972 – First Sudanese Civil War

• 1983 – Second Sudanese Civil War begins

Lord Kitchener of Khartoum

Timeline• 2004 –Abyei protocol• 2005- Second Civil War

ends, Abyei Boundary Commission defines Abyei boundaries

• 2008 – Renewed clashes in Abyei

• 2009 – International Arbitration modifies ABC boundaries

• 2011 – Southern Referendum, but no Abyei referendum

Omar al-Bashir and John Garang at the Signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005

Borderlands Framework

What are borderlands?

What are borders?

How do they affect conflict?

Borders are “Time written in

space”

(Rupnik, 1994)

The Sudanese Borderlands Today

What are Borderlands?

• Defined by their contradictions (Anderson and O’Down, 1999)

• Polarizing• Contested• Violent ‘neuralgia points’ (Goodhand)

Frontier

• Hirst (2005) distinguishes between a frontier, which is fluid and mobile, and a border, which is fixed

External Factors• British colonialism • National conflict,

national identities• Oil • ‘Development’

policy• CPA – Abyei

Protocol• Citizenship

Local Processes and Perceptions

• Exclusion and threat of exclusion

• Marginalization • Hardened

identities • Grievances

Border Formation

First Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972)

• Emerging divisions between the Misseriya and the Ngok as a result of national conflict.

• Seeds of further division sewn in peace: Addis Ababa Agreement (1972)– Roots of Southern Autonomy– Referendum for Abyei

Oil Pipelines Nomadic Routes Dinka Cattle CampsMisseriya Cattle Camps

Grazing Areas

Interactions within Borderlands

State (Development) Policy• Agricultural policy

- large irrigated schemes + attempted settlement of nomads- balance of payments + conflict due to ‘underdevelopment’

Encroachment + Marginalisation- Misseriya pushed south + feel excluded from Abyei Development Project (1978-1981)

• Emasculation of Local Leaders + Land Rights- Native Adminstration Yea or Nay?

Changes in the way land is used and perceived

Oil• Oil profits allowed the NCP to wage its

wars in Abyei• Abyei production:

2003: 25% of total production2009: 1% of total production

• The process of border formation problematised the presence of oil in Abyei and vice versa

Conflicting Interests and Perceptions

• Isolation and Marginalization of both groups

• Threatened livelihoods • Manipulation• Formation of national

identities • National stakes

Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005) - Abyei as an intense theatre of conflict

Dinka and Misseriya Leaders

Hardened Identity Divide

• Identities defined in opposition• Instrumentalisation of Identities• Soft Boundaries Hard Borders

International Diplomatic Efforts

• Comprehensive Peace Agreement – Abyei Protocol

• Referendum• Boundary demarcation

• International Boundary demarcation– Abyei Boundary Commission 2005– Permanent Court of Arbitration 2009

Bashir and IGAD

International Border Demarcation

PCA - 22 July 2009

Oil fields removed by PCA ruling

Limits of External Mediation

• Perceptions of bias• Has external diplomatic intervention in Abyei

exacerbated the conflict?• Is the current conflict just on big ‘tragic

misunderstanding?’

‘Troika’: US Norway UK

Citizenship and Sovereignty“the border conflict is fundamentally a conflict over who is a citizen, who should have a vote and who should organize the election in the first place” (Anderson and Hamilton 1999)

Voter Ballot in January’s Referendum on Southern Secession

Citizenship and Sovereignty

• Citizenship means– Political and economic rights– Identity ascription

• How to determine citizenship?– Land rights vs. identity

• Dual citizenship• Limited Rights

“The (ABC) decision should have no practical effect on the traditional grazing patterns of the two communities as those patterns were followed for many years until they were disrupted by

armed conflict”Abyei Boundary Commission Report, 14 July 2005

Conclusion

Conclusion- Borderland framework is useful in explaining the conflict

in Abyei - Important factors:

- Colonial Legacy- Development Policies- Civil Wars- Resources- International Intervention

- Border formation transformed the conflict in nature and scale.

What’s It All Worth?Falling on the right side of the border

= Pride, Dignity and Power