Chapter Five
Conclusion and Recommendation
5.1 Conclusion
The above discussion in the previous chapters examined whether Somaliland has a legitimate claim under international law to be recognized as a separate state from Somalia. The study discovered that legally speaking Somaliland has a legitimate case under the umbrella of the right to self-determination. This is by considering two different contexts in which a right to Self-determination can be claimed.
Firstly, self-determination is a legal right that belongs to peoples under colonization. To be free from colonialism, such people must be given a suitable opportunity to express their will freely in determining their economic and political status without any interference. Somaliland was not given a proper opportunity to be free from Britain. This was because the process of decolonization was interrupted by the haste unification with Somalia on let July 1960 only after 5 days of Somaliland’s independence.
Secondly, international law grants the right to external self-determination to any group whose rights were violated by the state to which they are part. Accordingly, even if we assume that Somaliland is an integral part of Somalia, it has the right to secede because its human rights were violated. Between 1981 and 1991. Somalia’s central government executes not less than 50,000 Somalilanders. There is no human rights violation greater than killing such a number of innocent human beings.
Another dimension that sufficiently justifies Somaliland’s claim to statehood is that the Republic of Somalia was a union between two sovereign states; Somalia and Somaliland. The former failed and the latter fully functions. Therefore the Union dissolved. In such circumstances, international law permits the functioning part to restore its original territories. This is what Somaliland did in 1991.
Furthermore, international law requires such part seeking recognition to fulfill the criteria of statehood under both the Convention of Montevideo and modern international human rights law. Under the Montevideo Convention requirements, Somaliland has a permanent population of 3.5 million and a defined territory of 137,600 square kilometers. Somaliland has a government, which effectively controls its territory, maintains security, provides basic services, holds free and fair elections and punishes criminals such as pirates who are a threat to the international trade in the Gulf of Aden.
Finally, Somaliland has the capacity to enter into diplomatic relations with other states. It has number of liaison offices in several countries such as Djibouti, Yemen, and France. Under the modem international law requirements for statehood, Somaliland has a good constitution that guarantees fundamental human rights with an independent judicial body, which monitors its implementation. International organizations involved in the promotion of human rights such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International praised the Constitution of Somaliland.
The research study has answered the question as to why Somaliland remains unrecognized despite its full completion of all legal requirements for statehood. It has answered this question by coming to the conclusion that the main obstacles to the recognition of Somaliland are political interests other than legal justifications. There are a number of stakeholders in the political game responsible for the non-recognition of Somaliland. These stakeholders include the Arab League, the death of four U.S. Special Forces soldiers in Niger on Oct. 4 has lead some in the United States, the European Union, and the African Union.
However, the AU is the biggest opponent to the recognition of Somaliland. This is because the international community left all matters concerning African borders for the AU. The problem is that the AU does not treat the case of Somaliland objectively. It simply argues that the recognition of Somaliland has the potentiality to balkanize Africa. Put differently, the AU argues that such recognition will open Pandora’s Box for similar secessionist claims. This argument is rebutted by the OAU recognition of Eritrea, Western Sahara and the AU recognition of South Sudan’s self-determination.
5.2 Recommendations
Somaliland survived from falling into the abyss of the anarchy that has befallen Somalia. The conflict in Somalia has expanded to take new dimensions such as the emergence of the piracy phenomenon. All that is happening in Somalia has a direct impact on Somaliland. Additionally. Somaliland has its own internal problems such as lite lack of infrastructure, poor service delivery, and unemployment that devastates the youth of Somaliland.
Somaliland cannot respond to these challenges effectively. This is because Somaliland is under a siege imposed upon it by the lack of recognition. Due to the lack of recognition, Somaliland cannot trade with the outside world and cannot borrow money from international financial institutions and the people of Somaliland cannot travel because their passports are not recognized and they do not have alternative documents.
The totality of these factors suggests that Somaliland can collapse like the rest of Somalia and become a failed state. This disaster will have serious ramifications not only to Somaliland but also to the whole region of the Horn of Africa and consequently to the entire continent and to the world. Therefore, the AU has a moral obligation to change its attitude and take positive steps towards Somaliland.
As has been previously recommended to the AU by its own fact-finding mission to Somaliland in 2005 and by the International Crisis Group, the AU should be disposed to judge the case of Somaliland from an objective historical viewpoint and a moral angle vis-a-vis the aspirations of the people; if not recognition, at the minimum level, the AU assign Somaliland an interim observer status which will allow Somaliland: To be present for open sessions of the AU relevant to Somaliland’s status; To have access to non-confidential AU documents with the status issue; To participate in meetings to which Somaliland invited without voting; and to present its argument before the AU official meeting. Finally, the AU should mobilize financial recourses to help the government of Somaliland to achieve a better standard of living for its citizens.
