Sudan is facing a vote in 100 days in which the people of the southern (and primarily Christian) portion of the country will vote on whether or not to remain a single country or call for a partition into a separate southern Sudanese nation. As the vote nears, there are rising fears that violence will escalate either prior to the vote or as a result of the decision. The Episcopal Church of Sudan is reaching out to fellow Anglicans around the world for support as they work to keep peace.
Archbishop Deng Bul traveled to Lambeth Palace this week to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury; a meeting from which they issued an appeal to people everywhere to support the southern Sudanese.
“The archbishops explained that the critical issues related to the referendum include delays in voter registration, tensions in the border regions, and the future for some 4 million refugees from the south who are currently living in the north.
Williams talked about the danger of Sudan ‘sleepwalking towards disaster … if action does not continue from the international community.’
Assuming the southerners vote for separation, ‘there is no preparation at this moment for how to receive the influx of refugees …from the north … back to southern Sudan,’ Deng said. ‘The Government of Southern Sudan really has no capacity at this moment to administer or to welcome these people.'”
Episcopal News Service Coverage here.
The Episcopal Church’s Advocacy Center has a page up with links, video and other resources for those people who wish to speak out in support of the Sudanese. From the top of that page:
In solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Sudan, The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, has called for a Season of Prayer. The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church in Sudan, The Most Reverend Daniel Deng Bul, has issued a Call to Prayer.
Sudan, and the region of Darfur within it, have suffered years of civil war and genocide. An important referendum on the future of Sudan and on self-determination for the people there is scheduled for January 2011. But there is no guarantee that this referendum will occur peacefully. In fact, there is every indication that violence and perhaps civil war will break out again following the referendum, no matter what the outcome.