Why Somaliland Administration Is Wrong to Refuse a Detainee Exchange Facilitated by the Somali Federal Government

[Deeq A.]

Somaliland detainees being transported from Laascaanood to Mogadishu, where the Federal Government of Somalia, in conjunction with the ICRC, will facilitate their return to Hargeisa.

Garowe (PP Editorial) — The Information Minister of the Somaliland Administration stated yesterday that “the Somaliland Administration would not agree to an exchange of detainees with the Federal Government of Somalia.” His justification for this position was that only the parties to the conflict — namely, the Somaliland Administration and the Sool, Sanaag, Cayn Khatumo (SSC) administration — can legitimately arrange such exchanges.

The SSC administration has transferred 25 Somaliland detainees to the Federal Government of Somalia, as a prelude to a formal exchange of detainees captured during the Laascaanood conflict in 2023.

Several factors make the Somaliland Administration’s argument politically implausible. In 2005, a detainee exchange between the Somaliland Administration and Puntland was facilitated by the Puntland Development Research Center and the Hargeisa-based Academy for Peace and Development. The exchange took place in Adhicaddeeye, the site of clashes between Puntland State and Somaliland forces in 2004. What makes detainee exchange more complicated in 2025 is both the nature of the conflict and the identity of the detainees. The conflict is rooted in  the secession claim of Somaliland administration. In 2023 the Somaliland Administration defied UN Security Council calls to withdraw its troops from the outskirts of Laascaanood. Subsequently, it called for a two-state solution as a precondition for halting the shelling of Laascaanood.

The identity of some of the Somaliland detainees strengthens the Federal Government of Somalia’s claim to be the appropriate authority to facilitate detainee exchanges. Some detainees hold IDs issued in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Others claimed to originate from areas in the Somalia region of Ethiopia:

• Awaare (Garhajis sub-clan of the Isaaq),
• Dawa’aley (Arap sub-clan of the Isaaq), and
• Awbarre (Awdal Clan clan).

Based on these claims, should the detainees be considered Ethiopian citizens or Somali citizens?

Several detainees from the Awdal Clan clan claimed that they had  joined the secessionist forces after former Somaliland Vice President Abdirahman Sayli’i was sent to Borama to recruit volunteers for the conflict.

In 2005, Somalia had a transitional federal government that was less than a year old.  Somalia has a permanent federal government, established 12 years ago in 2012. It is now the only institutionally capable authority for facilitating detainee exchanges stemming from a complex conflict in Northern Somalia.

© Puntland Post, 2025

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