Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) - "I was able to reach by phone a few parishioners who told me that the IDPs from Abyei are escaping, under a strong rain, from Agok heading towards Turalei" says the priest of Abyei to Fides, the location disputed between north and south Sudan, occupied by troops of Khartoum on 21 May. At first the people escaping from Abyei had found refuge in Agok which is located about 40 km. "These people are left to themselves, no one is helping them, because the staff of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the area is blocked in the town of Abyei, by UNMIS forces (the UN Mission in Sudan) that do not allow them to move probably for security reasons, "says the priest.
As reported yesterday (see Fides 23/05/2011), UN sources confirm that Abyei is now a "ghost town" because most of the inhabitants have escaped before the advancing troops from the north. According to UMMIS sources, several buildings have been ransacked and burned in Abyei. The UN has asked the army of Khartoum, being the occupying power, to ensure order in the area.
Barnaba Marial Benjamin, Minister of Information and spokesman of the government of southern Sudan, called upon the international community to intervene to force the immediate withdrawal of troops from the northern region. Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said he was willing to find a peaceful solution to the crisis erupted after the assault on a northern military convoy that was leaving Abyei under escort of the UNMIS Blue Berets. North and south Sudan accuse each other of having opened fire first (see Fides 21/5/2011). (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 05/24/2011)
