Abiemnhom County, Ruweng Administrative Area

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 NBS Census population: 17,012
2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 40,766
2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 57,091

Ethnic groups: Padang Dinka (Alor: Abang, Amal, Mandeng, Mijuan, Ngokciel, Thingyier)

Displacement Figures Q3 2022: 6,969 IDPs (-9,828 Q1 2020) and 2,346 returnees (-8,219 Q1 2020)

IPC Food Security: November 2022 – Crisis (Phase 3); IPC Projections: December to March 2023 – Crisis (Phase 3); April to July 2023 – Emergency (Phase 4)

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Abiemnhom County is one of two counties that form the Ruweng Administrative Area, having been separated from former Ruweng/Unity State in February 2020. It borders Mayom and Rubkona Counties of Unity State to the south, Abyei Administrative Area to the northwest, and Twic County of Warrap State to the west.

As part of the Western Flood Plains on the southern border of Sudan and Abyei, Abiemnhom County is characterized by short vegetation, black clay soils and a relatively flat topography. The River Kiir flows through the county’s south-western corner. The River Malual flows through the county from Warrap State. The majority of Abiemnhom’s residents live and engage in livelihood activities around Abiemnhom town in the southwestern corner of the county.

There is a market in Abiemnhom town, with traders getting essential commodities through the main trade hubs of Wau, Aweil and Kuajok, or via grey-market goods primarily smuggled by Sudanese traders. However, due to seasonal closures of roads due to rains and flooding, traders also source goods from Amiet Market in Abyei and Bentiu market. Owing to its proximity to Sudan, there is a significant amount of economic and kinship-based cross-border movement. However, political manoeuvring and conflict often prompt the Sudanese government to cut off key supply routes from Sudan to Abiemnhom, leading the county to increasingly rely on imports brought through unreliable roads from Juba.

The traditional livelihood practices in this county are agriculture and livestock, with a particular emphasis on goat rearing and sorghum production, followed by cattle herding and cultivation of secondary crops including cowpeas, pumpkins and okra. Sorghum is especially prioritized due to its drought resistant qualities and does fairly well through cycles of frequent drought and unreliable rainfall. An estimated 65% of households in Abiemnhom County engaged in farming, with a gross cereal yield of 0.75 tonnes per hectare in 2021 (FAO/WFP 2022), with no county-specific data reported for 2022 (with the Ruweng Administrative Area as a whole having yields of 0.9 tonnes per hectare).

Food insecurity has been a persistent challenge for Abiemnhom. In the post-independence period, returnees from Sudan, including Abyei, placed additional pressure on local food sources, resulting in increased food insecurity. Additionally, displacement due to conflict in neighbouring Sudan, cross-border attacks by the Misseriya and internal conflict have also increased vulnerability to food insecurity and impacted the ability of people to sustain their livelihoods. In November 2022, the IPC projected the county as being at a crisis (IPC level 3) level of food insecurity, with conditions projected to persist at the same level until March 2023, whereupon they are predicted to decline to emergency levels (IPC level 4) between April and July 2023.

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES

Abiemnhom County was administered as part of Ruweng State between 2015 and 2020, but was paired with Pariang County to form the Ruweng Administrative Area (RAA) when the government returned from the 32 to 10 state system in February 2020. The sharing of responsibilities and division of labour between county and administrative area authorities remains unclear.

The county’s proximity to Sudan, as well as natural resources in the area – especially oil – have made it a contested site. There have also been negative environmental impacts to oil exploration and drilling in the county. Owing to the conflict and their consequent lack of use, unmaintained oil pipelines have suffered severe corrosion since 2013, which has in turn caused spillage and leaks, and has had a direct impact on the right to an adequate standard of living including the right to health of local populations.

Abiemnhom is home to fourteen (14) primary schools and Abiemnhom Secondary, located in Abiemnhom Payam. There are currently no Early Childhood Development centres in the county.

Abiemnhom County was reported to have seven (7) health facilities, of which four (4) were reported to be functional in 2022. Among the functional health facilities include three (3) PHCUs and one (1) PHCC. This means that there were an estimated 0.79 PHCUs per 15,000 people and 0.88 PHCCs per 50,000 people according to the WHO. There were no hospitals reported in Abiemnhom County.

According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2023, there were 39,956 people with humanitarian needs in the county (compared to 41,700 in 2021). This is equivalent to 70% of the total projected population of Abiemnhom County reported in the HNO.

Following the outbreak of fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan in April 2023, 20,321 people fleeing the conflict in Sudan were registered at the border crossing at Panakuach, which is an area disputed by Rubkona County and Abiemnhom and Pariang counties in the RAA (UNHCR/IOM 2023).

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Situated on the contested border between Sudan and South Sudan, Abiemnhom has been drawn into various conflicts since the first Sudanese civil war (1955-1972). In recent decades Abiemnhom has tended to experience increased violence in between (rather than during) periods of large-scale conflict, with such violence often relating to changing boundaries. Shortly before the second Sudanese civil war (1983-2005), Abiemnhom County was affected by raiding from Sudanese Misseriya pastoralists, which continued throughout the 1980s and resulted in large-scale displacement (Craze 2013, p. 107; Rone 2003, pp.102-104). However, unlike neighbouring Pariang County – parts of which were held by SPLM/A for much of the war, and which was also a site of mass displacement owing to the presence of oil fields – Abiemnhom experienced neither a continuous SPLM/A presence nor sustained conflict, and instead fell largely under the orbit of Khartoum and its affiliated armed groups. One consequence of this was that residents of Abiemnhom did not experience the same degree of raiding or antagonistic relations with government-aligned forces from Mayom County nor with the Sudanese Misseriya community as compared to residents of Pariang in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Relations with Sudanese pastoralists came under renewed strain at several points after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in 2005, that overlapped with the cross-border tensions and political instability which increased in the run-up to South Sudanese independence. In addition to periodic cattle raiding, clashes between the SPLA and Misseriya pastoralists were reported in 2008 (UNSC 2008), while dozens of people were killed in early 2010 following a stand-off between Misseriya pastoralists and the SPLA in Abiemnhom amid tensions over migration agreements (Craze 2013, p.110). Grievances relating to cattle raiding and hunger resulted in some residents of Abiemnhom torching the offices of the county commissioner in 2012 (Concordis International 2012, p.68). Tensions also increased along Abiemnhom’s southern border. Following the signing of the CPA, Abiemnhom was separated from Mayom County (which had previously administered Abiemnhom), though the border between the two counties has since been disputed (Craze et al. 2016, p.111). Despite closer relations between the Bul Nuer of Mayom and Alor Dinka of Abiemnhom compared to their Dinka neighbours in Pariang, eight people were killed by heavily armed raiders (alleged to have come from Mayom County) in 2013 (Sudan Tribune 2013).

Abiemnhom (along with Mayom) were affected by insecurity relating to the opposition movement founded by Gatluak Gai, with insecurity returning following the establishment of the South Sudan Liberation Movement/Army opposition movement in 2011, whose forces were alleged to have been operating from Sudan’s South Kordofan State (ICG 2011; Small Arms Survey 2011). Abiemnhom was also affected by insecurity relating to the 2012 tensions and fighting in the disputed area of Hejlij/Panthou, while eight Sudanese traders were reportedly killed in Abiemnhom in November 2013 (Craze 2014, p.35).

Substantial numbers of Nuer SPLA soldiers defected at the outset of the national conflict (2013-2018), as Dinka civilians and soldiers left Bentiu for Pariang and Abiemnhom counties. While Nuer SPLA-IO soldiers were involved in clashes with ethnic Dinka during violence in Bentiu in December 2013, they did not initially include Dinkas from Pariang and Abiemnhom. This soon changed, as the conflict in northern Unity state became increasingly ethnicised, with attacks on security personnel and civilians of differing ethnicity by the parties to the conflict (Craze et al. 2016, pp.40-49). With the exception of its brief capture by the SPLA-IO in December 2013, Abiemnhom remained under firm government control from early 2014 onwards, and served as a key transport route for the movement of SPLA supplies and troops from greater Bahr el-Ghazal into Unity State. A number of Bul Nuer IDPs sought sanctuary in Abiemnhom during the conflict, whilst significant raiding was not reported between the two communities (Craze et al. 2016, fn.379).

Following the signing of the 2018 R-ARCSS, a series of road ambushes as well as deteriorating relations between the neighbouring communities of the Bul Nuer and Alor Dinka have constituted the primary forms of insecurity in Abiemnhom. In mid-2019, violence between youth from Abiemnhom and Mayom Counties prompted the relocation of humanitarian workers in the area, which hindered humanitarian services and food distribution. An armed group from Mayom were also alleged to have been involved in an attack against fishermen in 2020 (Radio Tamazuj 2020), while in 2022, 11 people were killed during a cattle raid in Abiemnhom, with the raiders reported to have come from an unspecified part of Unity State (Eye Radio 2022). Attacks against military positions and convoys by unknown groups have also been periodically reported in the county in recent years.

In 2020, the Ruweng Administrative Area (RAA) was established, building on the earlier Ruweng State that had been introduced under the government’s 28 states system in 2015. The Small Arms Survey (2021) observed that the creation of the RAA has not been associated with increasing autonomy or political independence for the area. Instead, the effect of this reorganization of administrative boundaries has been to aggravate border disputes, and increase tensions over control or allocation of resources (especially oil revenues intended to be apportioned in accordance with the Petroleum Act) within the RAA. Additionally, intra-Padang Dinka dynamics have the potential to affect the administration of the RAA, with the Alor section of Padang Dinka of Abiemnhom experiencing perceived historical marginalization relative to the Panaruu section of Padang Dinka from Pariang County to the east (Small Arms Survey 2021). Finally, a boundary dispute between the RAA and Rubkona County (which covers areas bordering Sudan, including Panakuac and Rotriak) has escalated since the establishment of the RAA, and is discussed further in the profiles for Pariang and Rubkona counties.

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams listed in Government and UN documents: Abiemnhom (County HQ), Aworpiny/Awarpiny, Manjoga, Panyang

Additional payams listed by local actors: Bang-bang

UN OCHA 2020 map of Abiemnhom County: https://reliefweb.int/map/south-sudan/south-sudan-abiemnhom-county-reference-map-march-2020

 Roads:

• A primary road connects Abiemnhom town to Mayom County at its east and Twic County, Warrap State, at its west. The road forks at Ajak-Kwach in Twic County, with one branch leading to the town of Turalei and the other to Abyei town. The Mayom-Abiemnhom road is considered a key transport route to eventually reaching Bentiu and refugee camps in Unity State. The Logistics Cluster classified the main section of the road between Turalei and Mayom as “impassable” during the rainy season of 2022 and “passable” during the dry season of 2023. The condition of the branch of the primary road that runs to Abyei is unknown.
• Furthermore, a tertiary road runs through the county (without connecting to any significant settlements) and connects Mayom town to the Abyei area. Seasonal road conditions are unknown.

UNHAS-recognized Heli-Landing Sites and Airstrips: None

REFERENCES

Craze, J. (2013). Dividing lines: Grazing and conflict along the Sudan– South Sudan border. Small Arms Survey/HSBA. Retrieved 12 December 2023.

Craze, J. (2014). Contested Borders: Continuing Tensions over the Sudan-South Sudan Border. Small Arms Survey/HSBA. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

Eye Radio. (2022). 11 killed as armed raiders waylaid Ruweng cattle-keepers. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

Eye Radio. (2023). Two local officials killed in Ruweng ambush. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

FAO/WFP. (2023). Special Report: FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to South Sudan. Retrieved 31 July 2023. See equivalent versions of the CFSAM report online for data from previous years.

FEWSNET. (2018). ‘Livelihoods Zone Map and Descriptions for the Republic of South Sudan (Updated)’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

ICG, International Crisis Group. (2011). South Sudan: Compounding Instability in Unity State. Retrieved 15 December 2023.

OCHA. (2021). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2020). 5 fishermen killed, another injured in Abiemnhom East. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

Rone, J. (2003). ‘Sudan, Oil, and Human Rights’. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Small Arms Survey. (2011). Fighting for spoils: Armed insurgencies in Greater Upper Nile. Retrieved 12 December 2023.

Small Arms Survey. (2021). Ruweng Administrative Area. HSBA MAAPSS Update No.8. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Sudan Tribune. (2013). Suspected raiders kill 8 in Unity state. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

UNHCR/IOM. (2023). Population Movement from Sudan to South Sudan. Information from interactive dashboard retrieved 20 July 2023.

UNSC. (2008). Report of the Secretary-General on the Sudan, S/2008/267. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

REPORTS on ABIEMNHOM

Craze, J., Tubiana, J., & Gramizzi, C. (2016). A state of disunity: Conflict dynamics in Unity state, South Sudan, 2013-15. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Small Arms Survey. (2021). Ruweng Administrative Area. HSBA MAAPSS Update No.8. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

* Note: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Population Estimation Survey (PES) was published in April 2023 based on data collected in May-June 2021. This uses a different method to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Population Working Group (PWG) figures produced based on a combination of 2008 census data and population movement data up to 2022. The large discrepancies are primarily attributable to these different methods rather than changes in the actual population numbers over time and have been disputed by some civil society and analysts. Although the later PWG figures were produced more recently for the HNO 2023, at the request of the Government of South Sudan the data and method used by the PES is being used as the basis for the Common Operational Dataset (COD) for the UN system for the HNO 2024 and likely beyond. For further detail on this and other sources used in the county profiles, see the accompanying Methodological Note.