Somaliland Administration Under Fire for Rejecting Detainee Exchange Brokered by Somali Federal Government

[Deeq A.]

Somaliland detainees are being transferred from Laascaanood to Mogadishu, where the Federal Government of Somalia, in coordination with the ICRC, will arrange for their return to Hargeisa.

Garowe (PP News Desk) —  The Somaliland Administration has come under criticism for rejecting a detainee exchange initiative facilitated by the Federal Government of Somalia. Somaliland’s Information Minister yesterday said  that only the direct parties to the conflict — the Somaliland Administration and the SSCK (Sool, Sanaag, Cayn and Khatumo) administration — have the legitimacy “to arrange such exchanges”.

The SSC administration recently handed over 25 Somaliland detainees to the Federal Government of Somalia  in a goodwill gesture, aiming to initiate a formal exchange of detainees captured during the 2023 Laascaanood conflict.

Critics argue that Somaliland’s position is politically untenable. Historical precedent shows that third-party-facilitated exchanges are not unprecedented — in 2005, a successful exchange between Puntland and Somaliland was arranged by civil society groups.

Somaliland detainees, some of whom hold Somali Region of Ethiopia identification or claim to hail from cross-border communities such as Awaare, Dawa’aley and Awbarre, complicate the situation. Their political identity raises  questions about legal jurisdiction, which reinforce the Somali Federal Government’s role as a more neutral and capable authority in such matters.

© Puntland Post, 2025

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