20110107
reuters

JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Ibrahim Akasha sits outside his office in south Sudan's capital Juba -- one of hundreds of northerners who are dismissing fears of reprisals to stay and build on businesses in the region after its expected secession.

"My life is here. I was born here. I have been here during the wars. How can I go to Khartoum", said Akasha, days ahead of the scheduled January 9 start of a referendum, giving southerners the choice whether to declare independence.

His resolve is in sharp contrast to tens of thousands of southerners who have left the north in recent months, many of them unnerved by reports they could be stripped of their citizenship and lose basic rights once the south splits away.

There have been similar warnings about northerners in the south -- aid group Refugees International last month called for more protection of northerners "who may be forcibly expelled or harassed".

Everyone also remembers how northern traders were targeted in riots that broke out in Juba in 2005 after southern leader John Garang died in a helicopter crash.

But the gloomy predictions seem out of place in a capital gripped by giddy celebrations in the build-up to the vote.

Garang's successor and south Sudan's president Salva Kiir has also repeatedly promised that northerners will not face any harassment.

Akasha, whose father moved to the south in 1904, also has the right to vote and his office is decorated with a poster reading "Vote for development -… separation".