Southerners in Khartoum at heart of referendum row

Southerners in Khartoum at heart of referendum row

During the civil war, about 2 million southerners fled to the north of Sudan, where they still live in poor suburbs around Khartoum. 

The CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement) between the north and south stipulates that southerners get a referendum by 2011 (after the general elections slated for 2010 and which both sides are preparing for now) to decide whether the south should secede or remain part of Sudan. 

Interestingly, the northern government/party is insisting that the 2 million southerners living in Khartoum be part of that vote, while the SPLM thinks that if they want to vote they have to move to the south and be residents there.

Why would SPLM, which speaks in the name of the people of southern Sudan, want to prevent two million of their people from voting over the future of the South?

Why would the north insist they should vote?

But most interestingly: What do those 2 million displaced people themselves think about this issue?

Insiders believe that SPLM is afraid that southerners who lived in the north for nearly a quarter of a century might have lost touch and sympathy with the south. After all, they have their new homes here - no matter how humble they are - their schools, churches and their new social and economic ties.

SPLM was unhappy that the majority of them refused to return to the south when free transportation and economic incentives were offered to them after the signing of the peace agreement. SPLM is afraid that just as they refused to go back to the south, they may not vote for secession.

By the same token, the north believes that southerners living in the north could tip the scale in favor of the choice of a united Sudan. They have lived here long enough to get to know that life in a big united Sudan is not bad after all. Even if they are poor and have only marginal jobs and basic services, still they are much better off than those who remained in the south without water or electricity in their homes.

SPLM insists that if only 51% of southerners living in the south vote for secession, the south should secede; the north says only 75% of southerners, wherever they live, could give legality to the choice of secession.

These are still very problematic issues,on which the two sides have not agreed, or even come close to any compromise. It's believed that if they don't, the referendum may not take place as scheduled. It could be delayed if not canceled, with grave consequences attending that eventuality.