This article, “E-Visa Unmasks a 65-Year Imposter Genocidal Architecture Endorsed by Global Institutions,” by M. Amin, argues that the international community has ignored the sovereignty of Somaliland and has instead perpetuated a false narrative that Somaliland is part of Somalia, thereby enabling a “genocidal architecture” that began with Somalia’s occupation of Somaliland in 1960.
Here’s a breakdown of the key points:
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Historical Context: Somaliland gained independence in June 1960 but was quickly occupied by Somalia in July 1960. This “union” was forced and not a voluntary act.
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Oppression and Genocide: Under Siad Barre’s regime in Somalia (1969-1991), Somaliland experienced systematic oppression, including the bombing of cities, razing of neighborhoods, and extrajudicial killings of the Isaaq population.
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Diplomatic Erasure: Somalia, with the help of Egyptian diplomats like Boutros Boutros-Ghali, successfully presented itself as a victim state and erased the reality of the genocide in Somaliland through UN resolutions and diplomatic maneuvering. This involved misrepresenting the 1960 Friendship Treaty between Italy and Somalia, which did not include Somaliland.
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Re-declaration of Independence: In 1991, Somaliland re-declared its independence after the collapse of Barre’s regime. However, the international community, including the OAU (now African Union) and the UN, continued to uphold the idea of Somalia’s “territorial integrity,” effectively ignoring Somaliland’s sovereignty.
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The E-Visa Issue: The recent imposition of an eVisa requirement by the Somali Federal Government over Somaliland is seen as a continuation of this historical oppression and a painful reminder of the ongoing occupation and genocide.
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Key Figures and Documents: The article highlights individuals like Aden Abdulle Osman, Said Abdullahi Osman, and Boutros Boutros-Ghali, as well as the 1960 Friendship Treaty, as being central to understanding the situation.
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Call to Action: The article calls for recognition of Somaliland’s sovereignty, arguing that the international community has been complicit in perpetuating a false narrative that serves the interests of the perpetrators of violence rather than the victims. It emphasizes that truth and Somaliland’s perseverance will ultimately prevail.
The complete analysis piece is as follows:
eVisa Unmasks a 65-Year Imposter Genocidal Architecture Endorsed by Global Institutions
By M. Amin
It began in the heat of June 1960. Somaliland, the former British protectorate, stood proudly as an independent state. Its leaders raised the flag, formed a government, and reached toward the world for recognition. The people celebrated freedom they had long endured colonial chains to achieve. But the joy was fleeting.
On 1 July 1960, barely a week later, Somalia — the former Italian trusteeship, freshly rebranded as the Somali Republic — stormed into Somaliland, imposing what it called a “union.” But this was not a voluntary act. Somaliland had chosen independence; the Somali Republic had chosen occupation. The so-called union was nothing more than an imposter occupation. This act contradicted the Friendship Treaty between Italy and the Somali Republic, signed that very day, which legally bound only the Italian trusteeship territory, not Somaliland. Even Aden Abdulle Osman, Somalia’s first president, would later confirm in the UN International Law Commission Yearbook (1962) that Somaliland and Somalia were separate, sovereign entities.
For the next three decades, the people of Somaliland endured systematic oppression. Under Siad Barre’s regime (1969–1991), the territory became a theater of destruction. Cities like Hargeisa and Burao were bombed, entire neighborhoods razed, and the Isaaq population subjected to extrajudicial killings and mass displacement. The survivors watched their homes crumble and their loved ones disappear — yet even as the guns fell silent, a more insidious form of erasure had already begun: the erasure through diplomacy.
In December 1988, Said Abdullahi Osman, Somalia’s ambassador to the UN, authored Resolution 43/206, casting Somalia as a unitary victim state and eliding the genocide raging in Somaliland. Suddenly, the world was meant to see Somalia as the helpless, legitimate nation — and Somaliland as invisible, its suffering erased.
Just weeks later, in January 1989, Mogadishu and Cairo signed the Diplomatic Institutions Cooperation Protocol. This was no ordinary agreement; it was a masterstroke of international maneuvering. Egyptian diplomats, under Boutros Boutros-Ghali, trained Somali diplomats, coordinated positions across the Arab League, and extended influence into the OAU. A careful architecture emerged: one that would mask the illegitimacy of Somalia’s claims over Somaliland and cement a narrative of “territorial integrity” that excluded truth.
By May 1991, as Barre’s regime finally collapsed, Somaliland declared its re-independence. Yet the world barely noticed. At the OAU summit in Abuja the following month, resolutions emphasized the preservation of the “Somali Republic’s territorial integrity.” Legally, this had no bearing on Somaliland: the 1 July 1960 treaty, carefully recorded in international archives, excluded Somaliland. Yet the Mogadishu–Cairo diplomatic machinery had misapplied this legal distinction, and Said Abdullahi Osman, now OAU Assistant Secretary-General, helped enforce it. Diplomacy, in this moment, became an instrument of deception.
Later that year, Boutros Boutros-Ghali ascended to the UN Secretary-Generalship, carrying forward the same narrative at the highest level. The UN returned to Somalia affairs but ignored Somaliland entirely, inviting representatives of the collapsed Somali regime. Resolutions drafted by perpetrators of genocide now dictated global engagement — a diplomatic echo of past violence.
For more than three decades, Somaliland endured diplomatic isolation even as it remained the only functioning government in the former Somali territories. The OAU, the UN, the Arab League — all repeated the fiction that Somaliland was part of Somalia, even as history and law proved otherwise.
Then, in September 2025, the Somali Federal Government imposed an eVisa requirement over Somaliland, claiming authority. To the people of Somaliland, this act was not just bureaucratic; it was a painful reminder of 65 years of imposed occupation and genocide. Every class, whether within Somaliland or in diaspora, remembered the sorrow, destruction, and extrajudicial killings of loved ones during the Isaaq genocide. The eVisa felt like a return of old wounds, a signal that the machinery of oppression — now cloaked in administrative language — was still operational.
Throughout this long history, certain names and documents loom large:
- Aden Abdulle Osman — the president who affirmed Somaliland’s legal separation
- Said Abdullahi Osman — the architect of UN resolutions and later OAU Assistant Secretary-General
- Boutros Boutros-Ghali — the Egyptian diplomat who carried Mogadishu’s narrative to the UN
- The 1 July 1960 Friendship Treaty with Italy — the legal proof that Somalia never encompassed Somaliland
Somaliland’s story is a testament to resilience. Erased physically by occupation, silenced diplomatically by misapplied law and international oversight, yet it survived, maintained governance, and preserved identity. The record is clear: the OAU’s “territorial integrity” resolutions do not apply to Somaliland, yet for decades, the world followed a carefully constructed script that served the interests of perpetrators rather than victims.
This is more than history. It is a reflection, a warning, and a call: sovereignty cannot be erased by paper and protocol alone. Truth eventually finds its way, and Somaliland’s perseverance proves it.
