African Union policy on Somaliland: Implications on Durable Solutions to Displacement Affected People in Somaliland

By:Sa’ad Mohamed Abdi Gedo

Introduction:  

Since 1991, for over two and half decades, The African Union as an institution and its member states has been reluctant to consider Somaliland’s legal right for diplomatic recognition, failing to acknowledge the same historical context within which Somaliland came into existence as almost all other African nation-states. In this regard, Somaliland as a former British protectorate has got its independence from Great Britain on the 26^th of June, 1960 making it one of the first African states to get independence from the colonial system. Somaliland has then informally united with Somalia, which was then, an Italian colony which got its independence in July, 1^st, 1960. Somaliland withdrew from that informal unity with Somalia due to the absence of a legal basis for that unity, regaining its sovereignty after a bloody war for the right of self-determination with the brutal fascist regime, Siyad Barre. The AU has not only failed to appreciate the outstanding success that Somaliland as a nation-state has achieved both in terms of nation-building, peacebuilding, human rights and multi-party free and fair elections but also to understand that Somaliland has satisfied the Montevideo criteria for statehood (1) Permanent population, (2) Government, (3) a defined territory and (4) the capacity to enter into relation with other states, although the AU has sent a fact-finding group to Somaliland in 2005.

The AU’s policy position on Somaliland continues to recognize the “territorial integrity” of what has used to be the former Somali Republic, overlooking the self-determination of Somaliland’s inhabitants and favouring a former Italian colony which is formally characterized as the failed state of Mogadishu which has no practical authority over Somaliland or even parts of Somalia and is protected by the African Union’s Peacekeeping Mission. This unfair policy stand and its isolative implications on Somaliland, couldn’t break the iron will of the people of Somaliland to live independently and determine their own political destiny, however, it seriously contradicts AU’s principles and strategic goals, making Somaliland a geographically African nation-state but technically not African as the AU doesn’t recognize it and Somalia doesn’t rule over it. This peculiar political situation has for so long adversely affected the conditions of vulnerable groups like refugees, returnees and Internally Displaced People in Somaliland. This dramatic impact continuous to strategically undercut Somaliland’s humble efforts to help these people, fulfilling its humanitarian obligations while facing big developmental challenges in the context of AU’s isolation of Somaliland.

This article presents Somaliland’s progress in the issue of refugees, returnees and IDPs, while also analyzing the implications of AU’s policy stand on Somaliland.

Somaliland Government Framework on Refugees, Returnees and IDP’s:

The problem of forcibly displaced people in Somaliland is complicated, driven over the years by manifold factors including insecurity in neighbouring Somalia, drought, and cyclones due to the effects of climate change. Multiple displacements are frequent, and both long-time and recently displaced IDPs are located mainly in urban areas such as Marodijeh, Sanaag and Sool region. The Government of Somaliland has taken good progress in responding to displacement by planning for durable solutions for IDPs, refugees and returnees.

Legislative framework:

The parliament of the Republic of Somaliland passed Somaliland asylum law and also there is a United Nations 1951 convention on refugees which is still applied by Somaliland and there is IDPs law that is developed by Somaliland and it is applied too.

Institutional Framework:

The Somaliland National Agency for Refugees and displacement has been established on 3^rd of January 2018 with the presidential decree by the president of Somaliland. The national agency for refugee and displacement is governmental agency dealing with refugees, IDPs, returnees and asylum seekers and migration response. The agency operates and functions in all regions of Somaliland. The agency provides support to the refugees, IDPs, returnees and MRC in Somaliland for durable solutions and protections, providing them registration to receive effective and efficient service and rights protection with dignity up to international standards of protection.  Hence, when it comes to refugees and asylum seekers in Somaliland, there is an institution which is responsible of the screening and registration.

The National Displaced and Refugee Agency (NDRA) is the lead government agency responsible for coordinating assistance and protection to the internally displaced and other displacement affected communities, refugees, returnees and migrants. NDRA provides capacity and strategic leadership to oversee the coordinated implementation process of IDPs policy framework which guides the interventions of the sector. The NDRA cooperates with and coordinates stakeholders in the delivery of services for the care, protection and assistance of IDPs and other displacement-affected persons.

After severe droughts in Somaliland Internal, displaced persons increased tremendously and reached 150,404 families throughout Somaliland.

Policy Framework: 

A National Internal Displacement Policy was completed in 2015 also the National Displacement and Refugee Agency (NDRA) has also drafted a 5-year Strategic Plan the same year. There is also a returnees program which is for people who are outside the country who are unable to return back to their country of origin, who voluntarily wants to return home. It started in 2012 and these returnees came from Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. Most of them were refugees in host countries while others were migrants. The government of Somaliland deals with returnees; first, when they arrive in the ports and airports the immigration office welcomes them and they refer them to the office of NDRA which handles registration and maintains their data.

Humanitarian and Development Challenges:

There are multiple challenges humanitarian and development challenges that are facing Somaliland due to the lack of diplomatic recognition by the African Union. The refugees that are in Somaliland are urban refugees and Somaliland within its diplomatic predicament cannot afford the provision of substance assistance and facilities for these displacement affected people.

The returnees do not get enough reintegration, as the Somaliland government is not getting assistance and help from the African Union. The returnees need health, education and shelters to integrate with the society.

Somaliland Internal displaced people face tremendous challenges including water, land for resettlements, food security and livelihood shocks exist among drought-affected IDPs, poor shelter, absence of durable solution programmes for integration and return to their normal lives and shortage of skill training programmes.

AU Policy against Somaliland and its Implications:

As the AU remains to neglect Somaliland, the adverse implications of its stubborn policy stand continue to damage the vulnerable groups in Somaliland which are way more beyond the capacity of Somaliland’s government to handle them by its own.

Lack of proper legal status for refugees and Asylum seekers: 

This is a direct consequence of AU’s unfair diplomatic isolation on Somaliland. As Somaliland is denied recognition, the refugees that are flooding from neighbouring Somalia, Ethiopia, Yemen and Syria and even IDPs due to droughts and cyclones are not getting proper legal recognition as the country itself is not recognized which in turn would hamper enough humanitarian aid and services for refugees, returnees and IDPs.

Lack of proper infrastructure for displacement affected people:

Somaliland government don’t have camps for refugees, returnees or IDPs and is devoid of proper infrastructure to handle the huge number of displacement affected people in the country. This is another result of AU’s negligence of Somaliland. Somaliland as an Isolated and corned country for almost three decades just because it reclaimed its 26^th June 1960 independence, the economy is poor and the government cannot afford to construct such mega projects for displacement affected people.

Lack of AU assistance on durable solutions for displacement affected people:

As the AU doesn’t acknowledge or understand Somaliland’s case, strategic engagement and the pursued durable solutions for displacement affected people are absent in Somaliland. The African Union is only for its members and is not willing to take responsibility for any other African citizens who inhabit in the continent. In this way, the AU is contradicting its principles and is shooting itself in the leg.  Continued disregard and such careless policy on Somaliland will only complicate the current situation and the future of displacement affected people in Somaliland. The government of Somaliland will continue to take responsibility of its humanitarian obligations regardless of the diplomatic isolation and AU’s abandonment.

Recommendations:

1. The African Union should reconsider its policy position on Somaliland, taking note on the humanitarian and development challenges that such unfair isolation of Somaliland would bring to the displacement affected people in the country.

2. The African Union should coordinate with Somaliland in its strategic initiative on the durable solutions for displacement affected people in Africa.

3. The African Union should allow Somaliland to be represented in the AU in one way or the other as Somalia has no authority of Somaliland and has nothing to do with it.

4. The African Union should release, publish and consider the 2005 AU fact finding mission report on Somaliland.

5. The AU should integrate its strategic planning with Somaliland and attempt to understand Somaliland’s case in an objective and wise manner.

Appendices:

Host Country	Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
Yemen	132	270	272	267	124	141	0	251	130	363	290	251	2490
Switzerland			2	–	1	–	–						3
Egypt			2	1	–	–	–						3
Germany			–	1	1	–	2						4
Sudan			–	–	1	–	–	1	7				9
Libya			–	–	19	71	6				62	8	97
Indonesia								1					2
Serbia								1					1
Total			74	49	19	76	13	14	16				2600

Returnees in Somaliland:

  Somaliland’s NDRA Services for Displacement Affected People:

Months	Registration	Health	Counseling	Hotline	NFI	AVRR	Outreach
Jan2018	77	106	12	22	0	0	0
Feb 2018	42	99	8	13	100	0	0
Mar 2018	34	206	12	21	0	0	0
Apr 2018	89	238	39	25	0	39	72
May 2018	26	188	6	16	0	0	120
Jun 2018	44	190	6	22	50		100
July 2018	95	232	3	18	100	63	100
Aug 2018	92	276	5	23	40	0
Sep 2018	58	313	13	21	40	67	300
Oct 2018	130	287	10	36	20	57	250
Nov 2018	105	312	6	21	0	0	200
Dec 2018	100	356	7	18	53	36	100
Total	1323	3929	232	347	588	262	1242

           Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Somaliland:

No.	Nationality	Refugees Cases	Individuals	Asylum seekers Cases	Individuals	Total cases	Total
1	Ethiopian	646	2948	3266	9377	3912	12325
2	Yemeni	4323	6788	31	55	4354	6843
3	Egypt	0	0	9	18	9	18
4	Eritrea	18	49	22	29	40	78
5	Iraq	5	5	1	1	6	6
6	Jordan	0	0	1	2	1	2
7	Kenya	0	0	1	1	1	1
8	Nigeria	0	0	2	4	2	4
9	Sudan	1	1	4	10	5	11
10	Syria	114	202	2	4	116	206
11	Congolese	0	0	1	1	1	1
12	Palestine	15	19	0	0	15	19
13	Bangladesh	1	6	0	0	1	6
14	Djibouti	0	0	9	12	9	12
15	Mozambique	0	0	1	3	1	3
16	Cameroon	0	0	2	4	2	4
	Total	5123	10018	3352	9521	8475	19539

Somaliland’s IDPs Data:

No.	Region	No of Households	Percentage
	Awdal	14308 Households	9.5%
	Maroodi Jeh	35591 Households	23.6%
	Sahil	8090 Households	5.3%
	Sanaag	35219 Households	23.4%
	Sool	32182 Households	21.3%
	Togdheer	25014 Households	16.6%
	Total	150404 Households	100%

References:

1. Somaliland, National Displaced and Refugee agency (NDRA)

2. Somaliland, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation [ https://www.somalilandmfa.com ]

 

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