UN chief hails withdrawal of South Sudan forces from disputed Abyei

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Sunday welcomed South Sudan’s decision to withdraw its police force from the disputed Abyei area.

Mr Ban urged neighbouring Sudan to pull out its forces from the area as well, in accordance with the agreement both parties signed in June last year.

The UN chief also urged the two countries to immediately begin talks in a bid to end hostilities between them.

“The secretary-general urges the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan to resume negotiations under the auspices of the African Union High-Level Panel to resolve the outstanding issues between them,” said a statement issued by his spokesman.

Mr Ban called on both governments to activate the joint border verification and monitoring mechanism to ensure security on their border.

The Security Council established the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei in June last year following an outbreak of violence after Sudanese troops took control of the area, displacing tens of thousands of people weeks before South Sudan became independent in July 2011.

A referendum that would have determined the status of Abyei in January last year failed to take place amid disagreements on voter eligibility.

Efforts to establish temporary administrative arrangements for Abyei also failed because both sides were reluctant to withdraw their forces from the area.

Some 35,000 people have been displaced following the recent fighting near the border between Sudan and South Sudan, the United Nations refugee agency has said.

The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has also warned that the new outbreak of violence is putting refugees’ safety at risk.

Addressing the media in Geneva recently, a spokesperson for UNHCR, Mr Adrian Edwards, said people in border areas such as Heglig, Talodi and other parts of the state of South Kordofan in Sudan had been displaced by the fighting.

Over the past month, there has been continued aerial bombardment in South Sudan, the latest having occurred in Bentiu town in the country’s Unity state.

Mr Edwards said UNHCR had registered an increase in the number of Sudanese refugees crossing the border, most of them into Kenya, some of them “seriously malnourished.”

In Yida, for example, more than 1,300 new refugee arrivals were reported in the last four days, and average daily arrivals have tripled since February and March, the agency said.