Sudan Independence Referendum Draws Large Refugee Turnout in Ethiopia

Southern Sudanese refugees in neighboring Ethiopia are turning out in big numbers at referendum voting stations to express their feeling that independence is the road to a new life in their homeland.

At a voting center here the celebration has already begun. The voting will go on for several more days, but the outcome is a foregone conclusion for the hundreds of southern Sudanese who waited as this polling station opened Sunday morning.

Many waiting for their turn to cast a ballot were born in refugee camps. They have never seen their homeland.

Others, like 28-year old Chuol Chang Kier, are among the so-called 'Lost Boys,' orphans who were brought to safety in Ethiopia during Sudan's 21-year civil war. He predicts the vote in this diaspora polling center will be almost unanimous. He says he does not know a single person who wouldn’t vote for independence.

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