DaabacoSaaxib u dir Dear “London Conference on Somalia: Building Momentum” organiser,
Please do not be misled by some of the misinformed comments from what I think are young people with little understanding of the real political situation in Somalia. Many people have mentioned Somaliland and presented various arguments. I believe the question of Somaliland is very important to the stability of Somalia but only if you have an insight understanding of the region can you make anything that is even close to a solution. The territory formerly known as Somaliland consists of 6 regions it’s also inhabited by 4 major tribes and many smaller ones. During the days of British influence each tribe had their own agreement with the British, Somaliland was never colony neither was it a country it was protectorate and its official name was “The Somaliland protectorate” the only country that was recognised or anticipated before 1960 was Somalia that is why in 1960 Britain withdrew from Somaliland to allow for the creation of independent Somalia 3 days later and the fact that both Italy and Britain withdrew from Somalia at the same time was no accident this issues was agreed on years ago and planned with UN involvement from the early 1950’s. I am only saying this because a lot people who have no understanding of these facts throw around various claims about how Somaliland used to be a country; Somaliland was never a country and it was never anticipated to be one. But all that doesn’t even matter because if you understand the tribal structure of the region you will know for sure that a country called Somaliland is not possible anyway you look at it. Understanding the tribal structure is very important because in Somalia the tribe is the community, the political party and the power on the ground. In 1991 a few individuals consisting mostly of the former SNM insurgent group from one of the tribes in Somaliland the Isaq and a few individuals from the others declared independence from Somalia and claimed that Somaliland is a new country. All the other tribes who are the majority of the population of the region along with all the tribes of Somalia are aggressively opposed to this one tribe agenda. Therefore the so called Somaliland and its claimed independence is just another problem in a long list of tribal quarrels in Somalia and should be treated with equal light as with all the other problems in south central Somalia. Three autonomous regions that will come under the new federal government are already declared by other tribes within the territory that Somaliland claims Maakhir, Khaatumo and Awdal states, so as you can see this entity called Somaliland that so many people are almost spamming you with is just another tribal problem in Somalia. The leader of Awdal state is just on a visit to Mogadishu in talks with the Somali government. I think this conference should make sure that the SNM militia and its leaders understands that their insistence on independence is not possible and the only result from it will be another violent war that devastates the region, which the conference should aim to prevent from happening and make it clear to the militia.. It is also very important to understand that not all the Isaq people support this separatist agenda and that the majority of the common people do not care about the SNM separatist movement, they just want peace and development in their country. However the lack of government in Somalia for the last 20 years meant that the SNM militia was controlling people’s opinions, they have actively supressed people who expressed nationalist ideas; this week alone they have imprisoned more than 20 journalists in Hargaisa for what they called “pro-Somalia news” and this has been the routine for the past 2 decades. The population in the cities that the SNM controls are not free to state their opinions and are in fact prisoners in their country living in extreme fear; many have been killed or tortured just for speaking out. When the united nations or other international community personal visits the region they are only allowed to visit a few pretty neighbourhoods in the city where everything is staged to look like it’s going all too well and that everyone agrees with the militia but this picture is far from the truth.
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