Abyei: disputed region between the Sudans

Abyei residents, who fled to northern Sudan during the war, came back in their droves ahead of a referendum that was supposed to be held in January 2011 to determine if the region should be part of South Sudan or Sudan.

A Ngok Dinka woman, who spent years in exile in the North, shows her happiness at being reunited with her family and friends in Abyei after returning ahead of a proposed January 2011 referendum on the status of the region, which was ultimately cancelled amid flare-ups of violence.

The vast majority of the returnees to Abyei ahead of a planned January 2011 referendum were Ngok Dinka, who are allied with Juba.

Sudan has opposed an African Union proposal to hold a referendum on the status of Abyei in October, saying people from the Misseriya tribe would not be allowed to vote.

A camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Abyei in Akong village in South Sudan. The IDPs want to return to Abyei to take part in the October referendum about the disputed area.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) walks with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom after a joint news conference at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa on May 25, 2013, at which Kerry stressed the importance of resolving the status of Abyei.