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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction:

The Republic of Somaliland withdrew from the Somali Republic over 28 years ago and has subsequently established informal ties with a number of governments. Although, headed by a directly elected government, Somaliland has yet to be officially recognized as an independent state by either the UN or any government. Since its withdrawal from Somalia, Somaliland has been ruled by a series of balanced and non-violent independent governments and despite this evidence of self-determination, its bid for international recognition has proven fruitless.

The principal aims of this research will be to investigate and evaluate the Republic of Somaliland’s efforts to attain international recognition, and the challenges and obstacles that have served to impede those attempts. It will also examine the subject of international recognition – the criteria that underpin it, the historical validity of the Somaliland government’s claim to sovereignty, and the specific obstacles that present in relation to sovereignty – legal and political. The likelihood of the government’s success in its efforts to attain recognition in light of the challenges that currently present will also be assessed. This research will also consider the legitimacy of the secession and the prospects for success given present challenges. It will further consider the difficulties that effective international isolation have created for Somaliland, including the inability to receive any development assistance or investment from other nations, or bilateral support from international agencies. The research will also examine the challenges that have arisen because of the degradation of critical infrastructure and the problems that have presented as Somaliland has worked to rehabilitate these in the absence of support from the international community and the reasons for this apparent reluctance to provide technical and logistical assistance. The author will also look to explore issues in relation to the virtual destruction of the healthcare system, the lack of education and proper schools, high birth-rate mortality, and related issues. The study will also examine the effective neutralization of commercial activity through Somalilanders’ inability to travel abroad for business purposes in the absence of travel documents and myriad issues that lack of access to a basic banking system have given rise to. Consideration will also be given to Somaliland’s dangerous economic dependence on remittances from its diaspora and foreign aid, which will invariably wind-out as the diaspora become more remote from their homeland.

The initial chapter of the research covers the historical background of Somaliland followed by the methodology employed, an analysis of research undertaken and relevant recommendations with respect to how barriers to recognition might be surmounted.

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1.2 Background of the study

Under European colonial rule in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Somali population was spread across five territories: British Somaliland, (which included the current Somaliland claiming independence), Italian Somaliland (southern Somalia, with its capital Mogadishu), French Somaliland, (Djibouti), Kenya and Ethiopia (Pavkovic: 501). Historically, however, Somaliland was a different and separate administrative entity from Somalia. Following the British occupation of Aden in 1839 and after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the expansion of the British Empire reached the borders of Somaliland itself. To safeguard its trade interests in the Indian Ocean, during the scramble for and partition of Africa among the Europeans, in 1884, Britain proclaimed Somaliland a protectorate, ‘the British Somaliland Protectorate’, and appointed its first agent in 1885. This process of encroachment and assimilation was for the most part built on a series of agreements with local traditional elders and chiefs. (Nur. 2018), with the country remaining under British rule during next 73 years until independence on 26 June 1960, when it became the Independent State of Somaliland This move to independence was welcomed by 34 countries, including Egypt, Israel, and the five permanent members of the Security Council.

Italian Somalia, on the hand, formally came into existence in 1888 through a treaty signed between Italy and the Hobyo Sultanate. This process of expansion continued through the signing of similar treaties with other Sultanates and chiefs and in 1894, the signing of an Anglo-Italian border protocol, formally established the boundary between Somaliland and Somalia. Later, in 1936, Somalia was integrated into Italian East Africa until 1941 when Britain defeated Italy during the Second World War in the East Africa campaign and ejected it from Somalia. To the country was then governed under a military administration until 1949 at which point it became a United Nations Trusteeship under Italian administration. On the 1st of July 1960, Somalia gained formal independence and on the same day, the State of Somaliland joined Somalia as the first step towards uniting all five Somali territories (Italian Somalia, British Somaliland, French Somaliland, Ethiopia Somali, and North Frontier District of Kenya) into a single state.

The unification process, however, was undermined by intertribal rivalries and clan territorial claims, but the drive for a “Greater Somalia” provided the unification process with the necessary momentum. Over time, these early rivalries abated somewhat, making the establishment of a functioning democratic government possible, with the northern and southern regions remaining unified for the greater part of the next decade (Kreuter.2010. 375). This initial fervor for union was soon called into questioned by the people of Somaliland, who quickly realized that the headlong rush into a union underpinned by nationalist sentiment was a mistake. The fervency for a union of equal partners so apparent in Somaliland was not shared by the other regions, a point made manifest in the composition of the first Somali parliament. Somaliland did not stand on an equal footing with the other regions and found itself disempowered and part of a union in which access to power was not equally distributed among the five regions.  The resentment, which this induced was given expression in the rejection of the union constitution in a referendum in 196 with a cadre of young officers from Somaliland later attempting an unsuccessful coup d’état in the same year.

On October 15 1969, the assassination of President Sharmarke brought the Somali to a swift conclusion, Siad Barre, the leader of the regime, which seized power immediately suspended the constitution, incarcerated politicians, banned all political parties and worked to deny funding to the North, resulting in a precipitous deterioration in North-South relations. The responses to these effective acts of repression were several. The northern Isaaq clan formed the Somali National Movement (SNM) in 1988, which subsequently waged a guerrilla campaign from Ethiopia against Barre’s government that ultimately led to the implosion of the dictatorship. (Lalos, 2011. 793).  While the original objective was the removal of General Barre, its remit broadened to that of the northern independence movement as a result of the bombing of Somalia’s second largest city, Hargeisa by Barre in the late 1980s, an act, which led to the displacement of around 300,000 Somalilanders to Ethiopia (Pavkovic: 501).

One impact of the war was the almost total degradation of the Somaliland civilian infrastructure, with concomitant damage to the economy. Systematic looting and the virtual obliteration of everything standing (Gurdon: 68) coupled this. This destruction extended even to the social infrastructure with some 77 out of 87 schools razed to the ground in the northwest region, 51 out of 55 were likewise destroyed in Togdheer and 34 out 37 in Sanaag. As a result, the economy was set back by almost half a century. Those elements that normally characterise civilian infrastructure were entirely absent: working hospitals, a postal service or telecommunications with public transport limited in the extreme. Where electricity or running water is to be found, these are the products solely of local private initiatives. (Gurdon. 68) Resistance to the regime spanned some 21 years, from 1969 to 1991.

The Quest of the Republic of Somaliland to Seek International Recognition
Hargeisa Somaliland’s Valley of Death 1990.

In the wake of Barre’s defeat in January 1991, the Somali National Movement (SNM) initiated reconciliation talks between Isaaq and non-Isaaq clan elders in the northwest of the country, meetings, which became known as the Guurti Congress of the Elders and The consequent pressure on the SNM saw it declare Somaliland’ independence on May 18 1991(Pavkovic. 502). The elders of the northern Somali clans and leaders of the Somali National Movement (SNM) announced the formation of a new state, the Republic of Somaliland, at a meeting held in the war-torn city of Burco and its withdrawal from the union with the South. It was agreed that the borders of the new state would be the same as those of the former British Protectorate, with Djibouti to the north, Ethiopia to the southwest and Somalia to east (Jhazbhay, 2008;  61). In declaring independence, Somaliland was able to distance itself from the violence in the South. However, the devastation wrought by war and the insurgency meant that its problems were both fundamental and numerous. Basic services, social and otherwise, were completely absent, the government could not draw on any revenue streams and, direct international support was lacking. In addition, half of its population was displaced or living in refugee camps (Pijovic, 2014; 19).

The Quest of the Republic of Somaliland to Seek International Recognition
Somaliland Refugees 1990.

In May 1991, following a series of reconciliation meetings, citizens elected representatives in free and fair elections and the foundations of a democratic system were established. A presidential rather than a prime ministerial and parliamentary system were adopted, numerous clan and tribal meetings supplemented the elections and reconciliation efforts at all levels of society. The main goal of these meetings was to arrive at a consensus in relation to the creation of a framework for power sharing amongst the various Somaliland’s clans. They also considered the creation of mechanisms for participation in government, institutions and councils by tribal elders and the maintenance of security (Pijovic. 2014: 20). The framework for a new ethnically balanced constitution was also discussed with a central committee tasked with securing a final draft (Gurdon: 64).

The creation and maintenance of these institutions speaks to a maturing democracy with a return to violence unlikely (Lola. 2011: 789). The necessary tripartite structure of any functioning democracy was also established at the1993 Borama conference with the creation of the roles of president, vice-president, and council ministers; a bicameral parliament composed of elected representatives, a council of elders; and an independent judiciary (Pijovic, 2014: 20).

“Short of achieving international recognition, Somaliland has built the foundations for statehood since unilaterally declaring independence from Somalia in 1991. Of Three elections have been held in 2002 (local), 2003, 2010, 2017 (presidential) and 2005 (legislative), establishing internal legitimacy for self-determination” (Pavkovic: 502) and to add to that the more recent presidential elections 0f 2010 and 2017.

The stability and restoration of democratic institutions stand in contrast to the situation in southern Somalia where conflict has raged without cease since 1991, with clan-based militias fighting for control of both territory and resources. The fight for control of the government quickly gave way to banditry, terrorism and piracy by various militias (Pijovic. 2014: 18), with civil war, internal displacement, migration, and a series of transitional governments the norm even with the continuing support offered by the international community. The collapse of the Barre dictatorship in January 1991 has therefore had very different consequences for the two ex-colonies that had initially united to form the Somali Republic in 1960. In the case of the ex-Somalia Italian region, violence, and intertribal warfare have been its defining elements, whereas the ex-British Somaliland has embraced a form of impoverished independence occasionally unsettled by bouts of political turbulence (Gurdon: 61).

Foreign reaction to Somaliland’s declaration of independence was somewhat mixed and less than wholly positive. The OAU, in a communique issued from Abuja on 27 May 1991, requested the Somali authorities to reconsider their decision. Mogadishu’s provisional government and a few Arab capitals were dismissive of their “errant brothers” and Western governments remained largely silent and non-committal. (Gurdon: 64-65). Somaliland’s legal and historical claims to statehood aside, the creation and maintenance of formal democratic institutions, order, and freedom as well as the prolonged peace now enjoyed have failed to bolster its claim for formal recognition, particularly when these are seen in contrast to the anarchy that prevails in Somalia (Pavkovic: 289).

The possibility of a reunion holds little appeal for the population of Somaliland with fears of renewed, intractable violence and the likelihood of political dominance very much to the fore. In the south, aspirations for a   ‘Greater Somalia’ still hold an enduring attraction for those who have lived through the anarchy of the previous decades. The current instability would need to give way to some form of political equilibrium if international recognition is to be forthcoming (Gurdon: 72-73). Faced with these realities Somaliland began the process of initiating a dialogue with Somalia. To date eight meetings were held in four countries – UK, Djibouti, UAE and Turkey, which played host, however until now the dialogue is stalled, which both sides accusing each other not willing to re-start the dialogue.

The Quest of the Republic of Somaliland to Seek International Recognition
Somaliland and Somalia Ankara communiqué was signed on 13 April 2013.

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