Sudanese in Egypt hope for independent South Sudan (News Feature)

By Yasmin El-Rifae Jan 10, 2011, 2:06 GMT

Cairo - Akol Akec says he has been living in Cairo for 10 years, but his heart and his roots will always remain in southern Sudan, where he was born and raised.

This week Akec was one of thousands of refugees from the south of Sudan voting in his country's referendum from Egypt's capital.

'The desire for self-determination goes back for generations, and the chance is finally here,' Akec told the German Press Agency dpa at a polling station in the Cairo's Nasr City neighbourhood Monday.

'In Egypt, I am living as a refugee. Under the unified Sudan, I was treated like a refugee, like someone with no citizenship and no rights,' he said.

Members of Cairo's large Sudanese community showed up at polling stations for the second day on Monday to vote on a referendum widely expected to result in the secession of south Sudan.

Another Sudanese voter, James Myat, who is the director of the polling centre in Nasr City, expressed a similar sentiment.

'We are exhausted, but happy. The result of the referendum can be seen in the celebratory mood of Southern Sudanese everywhere,' he said.

'I didn't find anyone talking about unity, everyone wants separation' said Kong Akig, a member of the Council of Sudanese Churches, which represents six churches in South Sudan.

Official figures estimate that anywhere between 1 and 4 million Sudanese live in Cairo. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cairo says it works with over 30,000 African refugees, many from Sudan, which is Egypt's southern neighbour.

Last November, 3,349 Southern Sudanese registered to vote in the referendum at three different polling centres in Cairo. The week-long vote is the centerpiece of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the mostly Christian and animist south - a conflict that claimed the lives of more than 2 million southerners and displaced 4 million more.

At polling stations in Cairo, people seemed optimistic that their votes would be counted and said that there was little chance for fraud.

'The voting here in Egypt is such a complex process, it would be impossible for votes to be falsely cast or miscounted,' said John Salvador, a southern Sudanese voter who was among the many voting for secession.

People registered to vote using their passports or status cards issued by the UNHCR office. International monitors from the Carter Center, the Arab League and other organizations are monitoring the referendum in Cairo.

'This is a historic moment of self-determination coming after 50 years of marginalization and conflict. We are happy because people are voting, but sad because people who lost their lives in the conflict are not witnessing this,' Salvador said.

Publicly, Egypt has said it would support whatever was decided in the referendum.

But unofficially there are many in Egypt who fear secession may spark violence over unresolved issues such as the undetermined north- south border, which demarcates Sudan's oilfields and the status of the oil-producing Abyei region.

'There is a high chance of violence in Sudan after the referendum due to unresolved conflicts and border issues, and this would be extremely dangerous for Egypt as a neighbour,' Ijlal Raafat, a professor of political science at Cairo University, said at a panel discussion on Sunday.

'In addition, the further Islamization of northern Sudan which is likely to take place under Bashir after secession could spill over into Egypt,' she added.

Many southern Sudanese casting their votes said they intended to return to Sudan regardless of the outcome. 'I love my home. Even if we don't get independence now, I will go back and work with the movement towards self-determination,' Akec said.

Ayot Alor, a 22-year-old university student from South Sudan who voted for unity, also wants to return to her homeland. 'Whether or not the south splits, I intend to return to South Sudan,' she said.

Her companion, Sibet Alex, who is also studying law, had his own take.

'We have tried living in unity for a long time, and the south suffered very much. It's time to try independence,' he said.

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