Somaliland struggles for recognition after 30 years of fending for itself By Louis Neal

[Deeq A.]

For Edna Adan, the so-called “mother” of Somaliland, the hospital she set up in the capital city of Hargeisa is a reminder both of one of the worst massacres in the region and of the urgency of gaining international recognition for the self-proclaimed state.

“We are at the top of an extermination camp,” said the former foreign minister, a president’s wife and midwife, referring to Somali dictator Siad Barre’s massacre of 200,000 Somalis who wanted independence in the 1980s.

“I want this place to be a place where human life and human dignity are preserved and respected, showing the dignity and compassion and recognition that Somaliland deserves,” he told the Financial Times.
Three decades after Somaliland first seceded from Somalia, the self-proclaimed nation state this year successfully held democratic elections and attracted large investment from Dubai’s DP World in the port of Berbera

Somaliland officials hope that all of this means it is creeping closer to achieving its goal of international recognition, without which it will struggle to obtain much-needed multilateral financing to power its $ 3.5 billion economy, backed by remittances. and camel cattle.

“It may seem like a miracle that in 2021 there is an unrecognized state that, at the same time, functions properly as a recognized state,” said Saad Ali Shire, Somaliland’s finance minister.

Ismail Ahmed, founder of the global remittance platform Zepz, which is investing 500 million dollars in education, health and infrastructure, said: “It is quite regrettable that one of the most democratic governments in Africa, a country that has managed to rebuild after a war, it is denied recognition. “

Hargeisa Independence Monument: Somaliland has brought relative peace and stability to its 5.7 million people, with an elected parliament and their own passports © André Khalil / FT
But fearing it would encourage their own restless regions, some regional players are reluctant to recognize Somaliland. “It won’t happen anytime soon,” said an official from a Horn of Africa country. Still, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Ethiopia have a presence in Somaliland. This month, Kenya established a diplomatic delegation, a year after Taiwan, a move that angered China.

The former British protectorate of Somaliland became independent on June 26, 1960. Five days later, it joined the former Italian colony of Somalia, only to separate in 1991 after the fall of Barre. While Somalia collapsed into civil war and has been besieged by al-Shabaab jihadists, Somaliland has delivered relative peace and stability to its 5.7 million people. It has its own elected bicameral parliament, with the Guurti of elders similar to the House of Lords of Great Britain: he drafts his own army, prints his own currency and issues his own passports.

“We have tried to be a functioning democratic country for 30 years, but it seems that to get the world’s attention you need to be a troublemaker,” said Ayan Mahamoud, a former Somaliland representative to the UK.

The Mogadishu government has been fighting al-Shabaab for years, aided by billions of dollars in US aid. Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, popularly known as Farmaajo, is now at odds with his prime minister ahead of the October elections. In April, he tried to request a two-year extension of his mandate, sparking armed clashes between rival factions.

 

Insider voice 

Qaran News