Let
Somaliland be an independent country, int'l think tanks say In its report, the think-tank emphasises the need for official recognition of Somaliland. " - Official recognition for
Somaliland would send a clear message to all Somalis that peaceful
transitions from stability are possible without the need to use
overpowering military force, and will be rewarded," said Norine
MacDonald, a Canadian lawyer who is president and lead field
researcher of The Senlis Council. The Senlis Council is an international policy think-tank with offices in Brussels, Kabul, Kandahar, Lashkar Gah, London, Ottawa, Paris and Rio de Janeiro. It works in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), as co-organizer of an international conference held in February with the attendance of General David J. Richards, until last year the overall commander of NATO-ISAF. ICG recommends independence In a special report, the research and advocacy group makes a clear political and legal case for recognition. ICG's research suggests that an independent Somaliland would add to regional stability, rather than representing a further cause of instability in the Horn of Africa. The International Crisis Group argues that Somaliland's case is unique, and would not - as some AU members fear - set a precedent for African secessionist movement. The current internationally
recognized state of Somalia is a state in name only. Aside from the
briefest of intervals, the last 17 years has been characterised by
varying degrees of chaos. Of all of the states in the Horn of Africa, it is the self-declared yet internationally unrecognised aspirant state of Somaliland that offers President Bush with his most viable opportunity to claim an African success story. By all rational indicators of a state’s post-conflict development, Somaliland represents impressive progress, and consolidating an area of stability and governance in the Horn of Africa will reduce the vacant space for instability, conflict and extremism to fill. Somaliland case not creating new
precedent Somaliland’s claim for full state independence is distinct from the majority of similar requests of other separatist enclaves/exclaves. Rather than seeking to secede from Somalia, Somaliland is looking to be re-constituted as an independent state. It held this status for five days between 26 June and 1 July 1960 - being recognized by 35 states in the process - before voluntarily uniting with Italian Somalia within the Somali Republic. For most of its time inside
Somalia, the territory was ruled by dictator Siad Barre’s regime.
Barre fell in 1991, along with the country’s political, economic and
administrative institutions and any semblance of central government.
On 18 May 1991, Somaliland revoked the 1960 Act of Union, and
declared Somaliland independent. No country has officially
recognised its statehood yet. Somaliland declared independence in 1991, one year after the independence declaration of Pridnestrovie (Transdniestria). Both have been 'de facto' independent states for the better part of the past two decades, but neither one of them has yet obtained international diplomatic recognition. A first step towards broader international recognition will be for the two countries' Foreign Ministries to establish bilateral ties and recognize each other on a mutual basis.
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