UNPOS Political Map on Somalia Escalates Territorial Disputes

[Deeq A.]

Mogadishu (PP Editorial) — The political map used by Paul-André Wilton, the Stability, Security, and Justice Team Leader at FCDO Somalia, in his tweet not only violates the sovereignty of Somalia, as it reflects the pre-Union maps of ex-British Somaliland and the ex-Italian Somaliland, but also unwittingly lends credence to the claim by the secessionist administration in Hargeisa that it controls what was known as the British Somaliland Protectorate.

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) developed the map that adds parts of Puntland State federal territory to the territories Somaliland Administration claims to govern. Given that the secession claim of the Somaliland Administration rejects the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia, it is difficult to understand why UNOPS published a map endorsed by the Federal Government of Somalia, the EU, UNDP, UK Aid and Deutsche Zusammenarbeit. In 2023 the Somaliland Administration forces shelled Laascaanood for six months, causing death, destruction and displacement. People in the administrative capital of Sool, under the interim administration of SSCK, are grappling with the effects of the conflict.

Political maps carry significant political meaning with far-reaching consequences. UNSOM has moved away from its previous “do no harm” approach to Somali politics, allowing UNOPS to endorse secession claims that contribute to geopolitical uncertainties in the Horn of Africa, exacerbated by the illegal maritime Memorandum of Understanding between Ethiopia and the secessionist administration in Northern Somalia.

The UNOPS map on Somalia violates the principle of neutrality that all UN agencies adhere to: “Neutrality dictates that humanitarian actors must not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious, or ideological nature.” The ambivalence of the Federal Government’s Foreign Ministry and Planning Ministry regarding the UNOPS political map on Somalia raises questions about how committed the Somali federal leaders are to protecting the sovereignty of Somalia against violations by sovereign states or international organisations such as the United Nations or supranational organisations like the European Union.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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