135 Slaves Repatriated to Southern Sudan (Press Release)

135 Slaves Repatriated to Southern Sudan

“Dinka Chiefs” Reject UNICEF Criticism

MALWAL KON, Sudan — 135 recently freed Black Sudanese slaves reached Malwal Kon, Southern Sudan on May 14 after traveling 160 miles from Muglad, Northern Sudan in four open trucks.

This exodus of slaves was led by the “Dinka Chiefs Committee” (DCC) – a group of Khartoum-based Southern Sudanese community leaders. They received financial and logistical support from the Government of Sudan’s Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC).

At Malwal Kon, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) distributed food and survival kits, containing essentials such as mosquito nets, water containers, plastic sheeting, and blankets. The freed slaves returned to a famine-affected area with virtually no possessions apart from the clothes on their backs.

According to DCC representative Yel Nyang, the return of 42 additional slaves was prevented by the Arab authorities in Muglad following the last-minute intervention of UNICEF officials. UNICEF opposes what it calls the DCC’s “forcible” repatriation of abductees. However, Nyang continued, after two days of negotiations in Muglad between the DCC, UNICEF and the local authority, all 42 were allowed to depart for Southern Sudan. The DCC rejects UNICEF’s allegation of forcible repatriation. The “Dinka Chiefs” argue that slaves cannot exercise their free will while in close proximity to their captors, and that they should therefore be returned to their homeland where they can determine their future in greater freedom and security.

CSI interviews with 53 freed male and female slaves reveal the following pattern of abuse by masters:

Abuse patterns among repatriated Sudanese slaves Subjected to racial insults: 92%
Frequently beaten: 91%
Forced to work for no pay: 90%
Forcibly converted to Islam: 62%

52% of the 33 interviewed adult females said they had been raped while in bondage. Two women claimed they had been genitally mutilated. One boy admitted he had been raped. Two freed adult male slaves were unable to speak coherently, apparently due to physical and psychological abuse.

At the end of last year, the DCC announced it was poised to repatriate 7,000 freed slaves to Southern Sudan by the end of May 2005. But it has succeeded in returning less than 1,000 this year. With the onset of the rainy season this month, it is not likely that there will be further large-scale repatriations by the DCC this year.

The DCC estimates that tens of thousands of Dinka slaves remain in bondage in Northern Sudan, notwithstanding the 9 January peace agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. According to a report issued on 25 January by the UN’s International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, Black girls and women are still being captured and subjected to “sexual slavery” by the armed forces of the Government of Sudan and its allied militias.