Southern Sudan Gets Ready to Vote for Referendum, January 2011
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Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterPhoto Essay courtesy of Christian Aid/The Guardian
Much of Sudan is in transit as southerners return from Khartoum and other areas in the north to start a new life in the south. Here, at a United Nations High Commission for Refugees transit camp on the outskirts of Juba, two coaches prepare to take around 100 southern Sudanese returnees to their home villages in Eastern Equatoria.
Those without housing are provided with emergency relief by the government of Southern Sudan and can stay temporarily in churches and schools. People can stay at the camp for up to three days and are provided with blankets, shelter and basic food items. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterUp to 50,000 people arrive into Juba from the north a month. Michael Ajang Ganarang, 25, travelled with his four relatives, including his mother, Danuka Achol, 47 (pictured). -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterReturnees camped out at Juba Port. The journey from Khartoum to Juba can take up to a month. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterChildren, who, with their families, have returned to southern Sudan from the north, play at Juba port. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterThree generations of the Makula family, including Victoria, 18, and her 18-month-old daughter, Lena. They travelled for 35 days from Khartoum, arriving in Juba with just one day left to register for the referendum. The family hopes to return to their village, but it is situated within an area known to be frequented by the Lord's Resistance Army, the Ugandan rebel group now operating in Sudan. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterOnce home, returnees must register to vote in the referendum. At least 3.4 million Sudanese have registered to take part. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterInstead of signatures or photographs, registration cards are marked with the voters fingerprint. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterLarge crowds of southern Sudanese register to vote at the John Garang memorial site in Juba on the last day before voting officially closed. Many of those registering were students who had just returned by air from Khartoum. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterThe long line of south Sudanese people waiting to register to vote. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterA registration card being marked with a fingerprint. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterIlliterate voters will make their choice in the referendum by nominating one of two images - a clasped hand for unity with the north and an open hand for southern independence. -
Credit: Christian Aid/Mike GoldwaterThe Archbishop of Sudan, Daniel Deng Bul, at his private office in Juba Cathedral. The archbishop recently visited Khartoum, where he counted 50 buses, funded by the south Sudanese government, leaving for the Upper Nile region of southern Sudan. He estimated that approximately 1,800 southern returnees were being taken back to their homeland to settle and register in the referendum.
"For me personally, whatever decision I make [about independence] is between me, God and my conscience," said the archbishop. "The region of Abyei is a potential flashpoint in the run up to voting, and we don't want to allow this country to go back to war... If border issues are not finalised, the issue of Abyei is not resolved, and post-referendum conditions are not agreed, there will be conflict".
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