Abyei residents -a territory disputed between Sudan and South Sudan- are called upon to cast votes in an unofficial plebiscite on the future of their region. Starting from Sunday and ending today, citizens are being required to say if they wish Abyei to remain a part of Sudan or whether they prefer to secede and be annexed to South Sudan. However, the popular referendum is supported neither by Sudan and South Sudan nor the African Union, as both countries have not yet agreed on who should be allowed to vote in an official referendum.

When South Sudan voted for independence in 2011, it was also foreseen that Abyei residents voted to decide on which side of the border they wanted their territory to stay. Two years later, the vote has not been held. South Sudan wants only the Ngok Dinka -the permanent residents of the territory- to vote. However, Sudan also wants the Misseriya Arabs -nomads who only occupy the region during the dry season- to be allowed to participate. As an alternative, Khartum proposes not to hold the referendum and instead to settle the issue through a two-government agreement.

The current unofficial referendum is being organized by the leaders of the Ngok Dinka community, as reported by Sudan Tribune. The Ngok Dinka argue that a two years delay is too much long. They also recall that the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) issued last year an opinion in which it was proposed that the referendum would be held in October 2013. Given that the AU has not called the vote, the Ngok Dinka leaders have organized it themselves.

But the AU says that the Ngok Dinka self-organized vote is illegal, according to Sudan Daily. AU believes that the unofficial referendum will only increase tensions in the region and will jeopardize the improvement of relations between Sudan and South Sudan.

South Sudan does not officially endorse the self-organized vote. However, the South Sudanese government wants the referendum to be held at some time.

If the referendum was officially held and only the Ngok Dinka were allowed to vote, the result would probably be overwhelmingly in support of separation from Sudan. The chairman of the organizing committee of the unofficial consultation expects a practically unanimous result in favour of annexing Abyei to South Sudan, where the Dinka are one of the majority ethnic groups.