STATELESSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY (but no other country). Many of those being deprived of Sudanese nationality consider themselves Sudanese and have little or no effective connections to South Sudan.244 Others do see themselves as South Sudanese, but the South Sudanese representatives in Khartoum have not conducted effective outreach to reach all those potentially needing such documents. Northerners and cross-border ethnic groups UNHCR estimated that there were just over 80,000 people of northern origin living in South Sudan in 2011, at the time of state succession. Whereas traders and civil servants generally possessed Sudanese documentation, the larger percentage of this figure was made up of what were then internally displaced persons from conflict in Darfur (some of them resident for many years and others more recent arrivals), most of whom had no documents.245 The Darfuris also face difficulties in obtaining documents in (north) Sudan, and given the poor relations between Sudan and South Sudan, those who are now refugees in South Sudan (and especially their children) are at risk of not being recognised as citizens of either state. Some ethnic groups are not clearly from Sudan or South Sudan. For example, the Kresh, Kara, Yulu, Frogai and Bigna are all ethnic groups that exist on both sides of the border between South Darfur in Sudan and Western Bahr el Ghazal state in South Sudan, and many families have members living on both sides of the border. It remains unclear how such groups and individuals will be treated by South Sudan in the longer term, once administration is re-established. Ngok Dinka of Abyei The “Abyei Area” that straddles the border was supposed to have its own referendum on whether it would join Sudan or South Sudan. This never took place, because the parties were unable to agree on the criteria for determining who should vote in such a referendum. The Republic of Sudan asserts that the territory should remain under its jurisdiction. In principle the Ngok Dinka, whose traditional territory it is, therefore retain their Sudanese nationality. However, individual members of the community face the risk of being treated as belonging to one of the “indigenous ethnic communities of South Sudan”, since they are a subgroup of the Dinka, one of the dominant ethnic groups in South Sudan. They may thus have difficulties asserting their Sudanese nationality. At the same time, they do not have any territory to return to in South Sudan, and the South Sudanese government has stated that the Ngok Dinka are not South Sudanese.246 Mbororo (Falata) pastoralists The Mbororo (also known as Falata) are a branch of the Fulani ethnic group found across West and Central Africa. They are largely nomadic pastoralists originating in West Africa whose migratory routes cross both Sudan and South Sudan, as well as Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. An Mbororo population has been established for a long time in Sudan, in both the northern and southern regions, many of them with ancestral roots in Nigeria: most arrived in Sudan in the early 20th century; others are more recent arrivals. Some settled to become agro-pastoralists; others practise long distance nomadic pastoralism.247 Members of these communities primarily resident in Sudan had, prior to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 and the secession of South Sudan in 2011, already faced difficulties in obtaining recognition of Sudanese nationality. During the transitional period, the relationship between the Mbororo and settled populations in the South deteriorated, especially in Western Bahr el-Ghazal and in the Western 244 Nationality and Statelessness in Sudan following the Secession of South Sudan, Human Rights Centre, University of Khartoum, Draft Report May 2016, on file with author. 245 UNHCR, Survey of Northerners at Risk of Statelessness Living in South Sudan, December 2010-February 2011. 246 “South Sudan government says people of Abyei are foreigners”, Sudan Tribune, 21 March 2016. 247 Dereje Feyissa and Gunther Schlee, “Mbororo (Fulbe) Migrations from Sudan in to Ethiopia”, in Gunther Schlee, Elizabeth E. Watson, Changing Identifications And Alliances In North-east Africa: Volume II: Sudan, Uganda, and the Ethiopia-Sudan Borderlands, Berghahn Books, 2013. UNHCR / September 2018 59