The House of Commons Debate on Somalia Very Interesting.....

[Samsung]

On the 9th February the British parliamentarians thronged in the famous Palace of Westminster, the home of British legislatives, to debate Somalia’s troubled affairs two weeks before the start of the upcoming international conference on Somalia scheduled to take place on the 23rdof February, which will be chaired by prime minister David Cameron and expected to be attended by more than 40 world leaders consisting of presidents, prime ministers, head of states, the UN, civil societies and a significant number of regional and international organizations. The agenda of the meeting circulated earlier by the Home Office consists of seven points of which piracy off the Somali coast and the potential terrorism threat to the UK interests are one the most significant ones as far as the host country is concerned. The UK (England and Wales in particular) is home to in excess of half a million strong Somali community, making it one of the largest concentrations of Somali Diaspora anywhere in the world. With the potential threat posed by the UK citizens of Somali extraction in the Al Shabaab-run camps in Somalia coupled with the continuing piracy threat off the Somali coast which had economically impacted on the maritime business, the UK government has every right to worry about Somalia and the continuing threat it poses.

 

 

After more than fourteen failed attempts to resuscitate the Somali state mostly by IGAD members states, the United Kingdom, the former colony of the northern regions of Somalia, had stepped in to have a ago at one last attempt to save Somalia from being destined into the history dustbin and complete oblivion. Most Somalis in and outside the country have welcomed the brave and valiant attempt by David Cameron to tackle the perennial Somali problem that refused to go away for well over two agonizing decades . Somalia has suffered immensely more than any other country in the world from all kind of things, including but not limited to failed state, anarchy, terrorism, invasion by its erstwhile enemies, piracy in the high seas, warlord-ism, displacement, famine and starvation that killed more than a million people and made homeless almost a quarter of the entire Somali population. Somali refugees are currently spread all over the world, including more than half a million in the inhospitable camps in Kenya, where they face harassment, torture and rape on a daily basis.

 

The undesirable intervention of Alun Michael

 

The debate on Somalia started with a long and detailed report delivered by the right honorable secretary of state, William Hague, emphasizing the importance of establishing a country that is at ease with itself, protects its citizens from Al shabaab hegemony, combats piracy and finds a place for every disgruntled regional administration (including Somaliland) in an all-inclusive democratic system that accommodates everyone in Somalia.

 

Then all of sudden, Alun Michael, the MP from Cardiff south Cardiff and Penarth whose constituency has a sizable number of Somalis mainly from northern Somalia, intervened the debate with his undiminished support for the separatists in “Somaliland”. What promised to be an interesting discussion on Somalia was almost unfortunately hijacked by one Alun Michael and turned it into a debate about “Somaliland” and how its recognition was well overdue.

 

For most Somalis, who witnessed their country to be debated for the first time in the UK parliament, it was depressing to see such a scene in the mother of all parliaments, especially when they thought their enemies are dwindling. Alun Michael and his fellow MP, Tony Baldry, can move mountains to dismember Somalia into clan-based regional administrations so that their beloved “Somaliland” will benefit from such a move. Alun Michael, in particular, has been known to support the secessionist project for more than twenty years and that fact that he achieved nothing for his endeavor illustrates that the international community has no stomach for recognizing the secessionist enclave. His current raving and ranting in Westminster will change nothing as far as the Somali unity is concerned. The honorable MP should know better than anyone else that the world is not daft enough to recognize “Somaliland” on such flimsy basis. The following are one of the few facts that perhaps Alun Michael and Tony Baldry should know before they waste their valuable time and that of their fellow parliamentarians on the secessionist project:

 

The British Somaliland ceased on the 26th June, 1960 and joined their fellow Italian Somaliland on the first of July, 1960 to form a state called Republic of Somalia.

 

On July 20, 1961 and through a popular referendum, the people of Somalia ratified a new constitution which was first drafted in 1960. Any future alteration on the territorial integrity of Somalia can only be changed through a popular referendum by all Somalis and not by the people in northern Somalia alone.

 

The former British Somaliland is home to five major clans and other numerically smaller ones: **** and ********** on the east, ********** and **** on the west and ***** in the middle. Of all these clans, only hardliners among the ***** Clan are pushing for a complete separation from motherland Somalia at the expense of other clans. The blind support of Alun Michael for secession is nothing short of denial of the rights of all the aforementioned clans who want to remain with their fellow Somalis in Somalia.

 

Somalis are the most homogenous people in Africa i.e. have same culture, language, religion and even same look that any attempt for their division into clan-based administrations will never work.

 

 

Following Alun Michael’s long speech in support of the secession project, this is what the right honorable secretary of state, William Hague, had to say about Somaliland: “We give it [somaliland] a lot of assistance in many ways and welcome the fact that it has become a more stable area within Somalia, and we will welcome its participation at the London conference. The emphasis here is “we give it a lot of assistance ………….within Somalia”. This should have been a forewarning and smack on the face of Alun Michael that the UK government is not going to buy this nonsensical thing called “Somaliland”. Alun Michael is elected from Wales, a country that is part and parcel of the United Kingdom despite its distinctive language and culture, and yet he is calling for the dismemberment of a country and people that has no such distinction. How ironic is this!

 

If that was not enough, this is what MP Richard Ottaway had to say about Alun Michael’s relentless push for “Somaliland” secession in the debate: “I have to confess that I have an open mind on that question [separation of Somaliland], but I find it slightly ironic that a Welsh MP who believes in the United Kingdom should be calling for such a separation in Somalia”. This statement was an ultimate blow to the separatists and their ilk and music to the ears of those who want to see Somalia back where it belongs - in the international community. Moreover, the foreign mercenaries recruited by the secessionists throughout the last twenty years they seeking recognition (wild goose) had now deserted this lost cause. May be Alun Michael and Tony Baldry are the last Johnny foreigners remaining on this sinking ship of Somaliland. It is good for them to jump the ship before it is too late.

 

In conclusion, every sane person in northern Somalia knows that the secession project is dead in the water and that it is high time to give it a decent burial. Furthermore, the international community which abandoned Somalia many years ago is now returning back to give Somalia another bite of the cherry. With the formation of Khaatumo state of Somalia and the earlier declaration of Awdal State, Somaliland’s faintest chance of international recognition is now coming to a grinding halt - naught. With war raging in eastern parts of the enclave between Khaatumo state of Somalia and the secessionists in Hargeisa, the much-vaunted peace that was once the hallmark of “Somaliland” is now a distant memory. The fact that Somalia, the mother country, is on the mend and its people in and outside the country are sensing for the first time that their country is back on track has also dealt a mortal blow to the secessionists in Hargeisa and elsewhere in the enclave. It is time Alun Michael and his fellow MP, Tony Baldry, should abandon their futile search for Somali balkanization and side with the majority of peace-seeking Somalis.

Mohamed F Yabarag

WardheerNews Contributor

http://wardheernews.com/Articles_12/Feb ... malia.html