The Voices of the Displaced is part of a larger initiative of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement intended to give a voice to the people most affected by the worldwide crisis of displacement.
Voices of the Displaced in Abyei is coordinated KUSH (with the help of Jok Deng Kuol), and includes 5 focus group discussions held among internally displaced persons from Abyei.
The Voices of the Displaced help us to understand in their own words the plight of Sudanese who have been devastated by war, their perspectives on both the positive and negative role of international aid in responding to their needs, and how their spirit of self-determination is bringing them back home despite insecurity and lack of basic services, including clean water.
Devestation of War
“I was in Abyei in 1983, when all our villages were destroyed. Now, there are no signs of people who lived there before.” (young man)
“Our life was terrible; we were put in desert to build shanty towns, and if we managed to turn the desert into a town, then we were taken to another desert, and so on…” (Elder woman)
“A lot of people died from diseases like cholera because the organizations were denied access.” (young woman)
“Police were the ones who bothered us without stopping. I’ve never heard of protection in Khartoum for displaced people.” (Elder woman)
“We were bothered night and day, and if the Government found a single bottle of alcohol in the house, they would take all our possessions.” (Elder woman)
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“If a mother was not found in the house, any children would be taken away.” (Elder woman)
“There were organizations where we were living, but we depended only on our mothers who were selling alcohol to feed us.” (Young woman)
“Women suffered from police who bothered them day and night and cut their means of life into shreds.” (Woman)
“Men were jobless in the displaced camps and were depending on women.” (Young woman)
“Pumping water is a difficulty on the women, because they use blood to pump, not fuel.” (Elder man)
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Discrimination by the Authorities
“In the past, people didn’t talk frankly with the authorities, because they would be killed and the Government would just say, ‘the Southerners are supporting the rebels’.”
“There is no peace in Abyei because the militias shoot guns as they like. UN peace monitors here are very delicate. There have been no changes since they came.” (Elder woman)
“The Paramount Chief called for help, but the militia soldiers shot their guns when the civilians wanted to come. So all who came to help ran back…”
“We were left almost dead. My chest was broken, and I was lying with no breath.” (Elder)
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“When we left, there was grass all over and so we used it to cover the houses. But we have learned different ways of building in the places where we have been and we will use them.”
“Water is the most important need. If there is no water in the village, then return is not possible.” (Man)
“The Missiriya control the boreholes after being drilled and prevent the civilians from fetching water from it. Lack of water causes crisis and conflict among the communities.” (Woman)
“The Government cut all the old and tall trees that the local people used to determine their borders.” (Elder man)
“Our huts catch fire; because of poor arrangement of buildings there are no spaces between the houses.” (Man)
“We have come by our own resolve and the assistance so far may not let us die, but it will not last.” (Man)
“We don’t believe in relief food because it will make us dependent, but we appreciate any help with agriculture.”
“What we will grow is better then the relief given to us.” (Man)
“We won’t go back to the camps in the North no matter what difficulties we find at home.” (Young man)
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“The land is rich of natural resources, from the rivers and trees to the oil, which is the interest of the World.” (Elder)
“As one singer sang, our land is full of everything; even from a tree you can get benefits for the people. Fish can be found in our river, and farms can feed different parts of Sudan.”
“The Northern Government refuses to give the Dinka people their right because they say there are a lot of things in this land, so it cannot go to the South.”
“Their (Government and Oil Companies) goal is to drill the oil without the knowledge of anyone.” (Elder
“The petroleum companies have created so many roads in the bushes. This is contributing to loss of the People.”
“For the interest of oil, they want to highjack our land.”
"The oil is being taken by individuals with no benefit for the local people.” (Elder woman)
“There is no power supply to the town or petrol station. Yet the oil is pumped daily. The Northern Government is the one eating the oil revenue.”
“We have all of the resources, but we get nothing out of it, because if a person goes to the bush then they lose their lives.” (Man)
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