S/PV.7186 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of South Sudan and the Sudan to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2014/375, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by Chad, France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2014/336, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Abyei. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2156 (2014). I now give the floor to the representative of the Sudan.

At the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on your country’s assumption of the presidency of the Council this month, during which the Council has considered the Secretary-General’s periodic report on Abyei (S/2014/336) following the strategic review of the mandate of United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). This month the Council also extended UNISFA’s mandate, through the resolution just adopted (resolution 2156 (2014)). At this time, I would like to express our gratitude to Ethiopia, a neighbouring and brotherly nation, for its efforts to ensure peace and stability in the Sudan, in particular in the Abyei region, through UNISFA. The resolution just adopted highlights in a number of paragraphs the importance of implementing the agreements signed between the Sudan and South Sudan on the issue of Abyei. Indeed, a definitive settlement of the situation will require negotiation and dialogue between the two parties. We therefore support the paragraphs that refer to the implementation of the agreements, specifically the Agreement on temporary arrangements for the administration and security of the Abyei Area of 20 June 2011, the Agreement on Border Security and Joint Political and Security Mechanism of 29 June 2011, the Agreement of 30 July 2011 on Border Monitoring Support Mission, and the agreements of 27 September 2012 on cooperation and security arrangements. There is no doubt that all of those agreements are part of a whole, a general agreement, which should be implemented fully without discrimination. Those agreements were signed as a whole by the two parties on 12 March 2013, have been conveyed to the Security Council. We would like to reiterate our commitment to implementing those agreements. At the same time, although this hardly needs repeating, we reiterate that the shortest path to a definitive solution of the Abyei region’s problems is the implementation of the agreements on establishing temporary arrangements for administration and security, in other words legislative, administrative and police services for Abyei in order to fill any administrative or security gaps and create an atmosphere conducive to peaceful co-existence and stability between the different factions, namely the Misseriya and Ngok Dinka tribes. A definitive settlement to achieve peace, security and stability in the region will follow. The resolution just adopted indeed reiterates that there is no other path but dialogue to ensure a definitive settlement of the dispute. Moreover, the resolution warns against taking any unilateral measures. Indeed, we are committed to not taking such measures. It confirms the concerns expressed by the Peace and Security Council of the African Union about the Ngok Dinka tribe’s actions with regard to a unilateral referendum. We would like to convey our reservations with regard to the section of the resolution that was deleted and welcome the resolution’s rejection of all unilateral measures. In that context, we recall that the Sudanese army was withdrawn from the Abyei region in implementation of the aforementioned agreements and the African Union road map, which the Council supported in resolution 2046 (2012). We have spoken in the Council on that subject and reiterated our commitment to the agreements between the two parties on security measures, including the creation of a secure demilitarized border zone and the implementation of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism. The reports of the Secretary-General have confirmed our commitment and our respect for the implementation of those measures. The Council knows that any new proposal that went beyond the agreements already signed and sought to impose hasty solutions would have disastrous results for the situation in Abyei and would only complicate the situation there. We have therefore continually affirmed and continue to affirm our commitment to implementing the agreements signed with our brothers in South Sudan. Over the next four months, which is the period of the extension of UNISFA’s mandate, we hope to make progress on establishing security and administrative mechanisms, and we hope that our brothers to the south will do likewise. In that regard, I would like to thank the Council and recall that on two consecutive occasions the Council has recognized the wisdom with which the Sudan, and President Al-Bashir in particular, has handled the situation and the developments in South Sudan. We are very concerned with restoring stability to that neighbouring country, as the situation there has an impact on us and its people are, ultimately, our brothers and sisters. Even before the referendum, we were also fully aware that the issue of South Sudan, even if it became an independent State — a development that we fully welcomed — would not be going anywhere. We would always be neighbours and brothers. We have therefore always been very committed to fully implementing all the agreements, in particular the agreements on Abyei, and to establishing all the mechanisms necessary for an environment conducive to a comprehensive settlement. We hope that our brothers and sisters in the south will continue to fulfil their obligations under the agreements so that the four months do not come to an end before we are able to establish those mechanisms. That will allow us to make progress on the path laid out by the aforementioned agreements.

I now give the floor to the representative of South Sudan.

Once again, Sir, I appreciate the opportunity to address the Security Council for the third time during the Republic of Korea’s presidency. While it is an honour and a pleasure for me to appear again before the Council, I also realize that it is sadly due to the multiplicity of crises facing our country and region. My focus today will be on the situation in Abyei and how I believe we can move forward beyond the current impasse. Let me begin by welcoming the decision of the Security Council to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) for four months. While we believe that that is a very short period in which to meet the protection challenges in the area, it provides an opportunity to develop more durable solutions to the Abyei problem. We must also express our profound appreciation and gratitude to the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and to the Force Commander and his courageous forces for their commitment to the protection of our people. As I have often said, the best thing going for the Abyei Area and its Misseriya neighbours is the presence of UNISFA there. Permit me to express my appreciation for the very positive tone my colleague from the Sudan set in his statement about the situation — a tone that, if in fact acted upon in the same spirit and good will, could lead us forwards. The reality, however, is that we have had difficulty moving forward in finding a final solution to the situation. That is why, in my note entitled “The Interim Stabilization of the Crisis Situation in Abyei”, which the Council included in its consideration of the resolution on UNISFA (resolution 2156 (2014)), I argue that the situation has now reached a point where alternative ideas are urgently needed to overcome the impasse on Abyei and to prevent the crisis from escalating into yet another catastrophic explosion in the region. In my opinion, the highest priority now must be to stabilize the situation in Abyei by establishing an effective administration and ensuring that the Ngok Dinka return in safety and with dignity to their original areas of residence, resettle and lead a secure and productive life without the threat of violent attacks from their neighbours. Equally important is addressing the needs of the Misseriya, both in their own areas of normal residence and in the transitional zone of their dry season migration in search of water and pasture in the Abyei area. That requires urgent measures to promote Ngok Dinka-Misseriya dialogue towards durable peace and reconciliation. The tragedy of the Abyei situation is that recent hostilities have overshadowed at least a century of well-documented peaceful coexistence and cooperation between the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya. That exceptional cooperation was widely recognized, including by the British colonial administrators, as a positive model in an environment of pervasive interracial, inter-ethnic and interreligious violence between communities along the borders of the then North and South Sudan. It is indeed still referred to as a legacy worth restoring and emulating. The basis for those cordial ties was the recognition and respect that the two communities — and especially their respective leaders — had for each other. Particularly important was the protection the Ngok Dinka leadership afforded to the Misseriya and other Southern Sudanese during their seasonal migration into the Abyei area. In that Respect, it should be noted that South Sudanese herders, both Dinka and Nuer, from several provinces, which are now states, escape floods during the rainy season by moving to the drier areas in Ngok Dinka territory. That is an important part of what makes Abyei a genuine crossroads between the Sudan and South Sudan. We recognize that the international community did not approve of the Abyei community’s referendum and does not recognize the overwhelming vote to join South Sudan. It is, however, widely acknowledged that the referendum was well organized and efficiently and transparently conducted, and that it reflects the genuine aspirations of the Ngok Dinka. Yet without the cooperation of the Sudan and the support of regional and international organizations, expressions of such aspirations have no practical significance. Nevertheless, it is worth recalling that the Ngok Dinka were acting in the spirit of the proposal of the African Union High-level Implementation Panel, under the chairmanship of former President Mbeki of South Africa, that the referendum be held in October, which was the month the community’s referendum was indeed conducted. Furthermore, that proposal, which South Sudan accepted and the Sudan rejected, was endorsed by the African Union (AU) and its Peace and Security Council as the best way forward in addressing the challenges posed by the Abyei problem. In October, 2013, the African Union Peace and Security Council urged the Security Council to extend support to the AU proposal. The Council has not been able to respond positively to that request. In any case, it is realistic to recognize that only a negotiated settlement to which both the Sudan and South Sudan will be committed in good faith will bring genuine peace, security and stability to the area. President Salva Kiir has been striving to strike a balance between supporting the aspirations of the Ngok Dinka and winning the cooperation of the Sudan’s President, Omer Hassan Al-Bashir. So far, the two leaders have not been able to agree on Abyei. Meanwhile, urgent measures are needed to stabilize the security situation for both the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya. To stabilize the situation in Abyei during the interim period as the leaders of South Sudan and the Sudan negotiate the final status of Abyei, it is my opinion that the Ngok Dinka need and deserve to restore their erstwhile autonomous administrative status — which had been combined with cordial and cooperative relations with the Misseriya — this time under internationally guaranteed security arrangements and in cooperation with the Governments of South Sudan and the Sudan. We must remember that the Misseriya, too, have their own autonomous administration within the Sudan’s national framework. Such mutually respectful arrangements would allow the area to stabilize, develop socially and economically and rise to the challenge of its postulated role as a bridge between the two Sudans. I should reiterate that the details of my proposals for the stabilization of Abyei are in the note that I have referred to earlier, which is contained in the annex to document S/2014/356. The objective of my remarks is not to offer solutions for the resolution of the final status of Abyei or to undermine the proposals under consideration, but rather to suggest ideas for normalizing the situation in order to promote peace, security and stability for the local population — both the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya. I also believe that this would contribute to creating a climate conducive to a more constructive and cooperative negotiation of the final status of Abyei, by the leaders of South Sudan and the Sudan. I genuinely believe that it is a win-win proposal, in sharp contrast to the current situation, where both sides are losing. I would like to end with the metaphor that a Ngok Dinka elder told me and which I have often cited. He said that Abyei is like the eye, which is so small but sees so much. I now reverse that metaphor by saying that although Abyei is so small, the eyes of the world are focused on its security and general welfare. I think that is a major departure from its previous suffering in isolation. I hope that the positive momentum can be sustained and that Abyei will not fall back into the abyss of past tragedies. The realization of that hope is primarily in the hands of the Security Council and its African partners.

There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.