A group of Lawyers from the disputed Abyei region say they are going to engage with the international community to push Sudan and South Sudan into resolving their dispute over the area’s final status.
The lawyers’ network held a workshop over the weekend to discuss the strategies Sudan and South Sudan can use to resolve their dispute over Abyei.
Monyluak Alor Kuol, chairman of the lawyers’ network, says the group is gathering information and facts about the area that it will use to strategize for legal steps to address Abyei issue.
Monyluak says based on the papers that were presented during the workshop the lawyers’ network believes Abyei belongs to South Sudan. He says resolving the final status of Abyei requires political will by the two countries.
Francis Deng, South Sudan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who hails from Abyei, presented a paper about the history, cultural norms and traditions of the Ngok Dinka people as they coexisted with their neighbors in the area over the years.
Deng,told participants that he believes the Abyei dispute has been politicized and resolving it would be in the interest of the governments of both Sudan and South Sudan.
Abiel Weng Abdulmajid, a youth from Abyei area says she is worried about the future generations of Ngok Dinka people. She says she too supports efforts to use legal means to resolve the final status of the disputed region.
In a unilateral referendum conducted in October 2013, the Ngok Dinka people voted overwhelmingly to become part of South Sudan. Neither Khartoum nor Juba has recognized the results of the referendum.