borderlands in abyei
DESCRIPTION
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?. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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 production
2009: 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