Sudan urged to protect citizenship if south secedes

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's leaders must make clear they will safeguard the rights of southerners in the north and northerners in the south, whatever the outcome of a vote on southern independence, the Carter Center said on Saturday.

The US-based Center, the first observer mission to begin work on the plebiscite, said both sides must stop inflammatory rhetoric that has spread fear that millions of people could end up stateless if the south votes to secede.

Southerners are widely expected to vote for independence in the referendum, scheduled for January 9. The vote is part of a 2005 peace deal which ended Africa's longest civil war, in which some two million people died, mostly from famine or disease.

The citizenship status of millions of southerners living in the north in the event of secession has not been made clear, nor has that of northern nomads who bring cattle into the south.

Khartoum's northern information minister said this month that southerners could lose their citizenship rights if the south secedes, sparking fear and confusion among southerners living in the north. The Carter Center said such comments could jeopardize the referendum itself.

"As Sudanese citizens, irrespective of the outcome of the referendum, they deserve the protection of the state, assurances of their citizenship, and unequivocal commitments that they will not be expelled in the wake of the referendum," it said in a statement released late on Friday.

"A lack of adequate accurate information in the public sphere could result in the spread of rumors and misinformation, creating anxiety or even endangering the process," it said.

The statement also said donors must quickly provide cash so that the commission planning the vote could keep to its ambitious timetable. Delays from donors and the Sudanese government in releasing cash had already disrupted the process.

"Any further delays in funding will severely impact the hiring, training and deployment of key staff and equipment. Any such setbacks could jeopardize a timely, credible referendum."

31 October 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=31411.