Southern Sudanese exiles travel to vote in a secession referendum

Sudanese exiles wait in line before voting in the referendum, which will determine whether their mostly Christian and animist homeland will break away from the Muslim-dominated north.
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Exiles listen as an election worker gives voting instructions.
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Sudanese refugee Ramadan Kuron Issa casts his ballot. About 30 had made the six-hour drive from San Diego to Phoenix to participate in the referendum.
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A Sudanese exile celebrates after casting his ballot. There were worries that the Sudanese government, based in the northern city of Khartoum, would steal votes to hold on to the oil-rich south.
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Sudanese refugees show off their ink -covered fingers outside the polling station.
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Sudanese women dance outside the polling station. “The south has been neglected,” said one exile. “As soon as I finish my studies, I will go back and help rebuild the nation.”
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Michael Pareng, 30, an unemployed security guard and one of Sudan’s Lost Boys, named after the orphans in the story “Peter Pan,” prays before a meal at a birthday party for fellow Lost Boys and Girls in Chula Vista, Calif.
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Sudanese Lost Boys and Girls, now living in the San Diego area, gather for a portrait at the birthday party.
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The Lost Boys and Girls celebrate their birthdays with a traditional Sudanese dance at the Elks Lodge in Chula Vista.
See full story  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)