AU Urges Kiir, Bashir To Resolve Abyei Issue

This article was last updated on May 25, 2022

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The AU made the appeal at its 401st Peace and Security meeting on Monday.

“Council welcomed the planned meeting between President Bashir and Kiir in Juba, on 22 October 2013, as part of the ongoing efforts to consolidate the progress made in the normalization of relations between the two countries and to address outstanding issues in their relations,” an AU press statement released last night partly reads.

“Council strongly appealed to the two Heads of State to seize the opportunity of their Summit meeting to take concrete steps to address the challenges at hand in Abyei, as outlined in communiqué PSC/AHG/COMM/2,” it adds.

The Council called on the two countries to resume their discussions on the final status of Abyei on the basis of the AUHIP Proposal, bearing in mind the need to ensure that Abyei serves as a bridge between Sudan and South Sudan, as envisaged in the Abyei Protocol of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

The Peace and Security Council reiterated the need for the expeditious implementation of the Agreement on the Temporary Administrative and Security Arrangements for the Abyei Area, facilitation of the rapid and safe return of refugees and displaced persons and the peaceful migration of nomadic pastoralists; the full demilitarization of the Abyei Area, including the withdrawal of the police force stationed in Diffra and its replacement by the Abyei Area Police Service.

The Council agreed to review the situation in Abyei in light of the outcome of the Summit meeting between the two Heads of State, and to finalize the arrangements for its impending visit to Abyei, as decided in communiqué PSC/MIN/COMM.

South Sudan seceded from the Sudan on 9 July 2011, following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2O05 that gave room for the referendum in January 2011 which consequently led to separation. However, issues of nationality, shared borders, the oil proceeds and security have remained unresolved between the two countries.