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Somaliland’s
“Path To Recognition”
Amid the chaos that has afflicted the Horn of Africa over recent
decades, there is an oasis of relative calm that is ignored by the
rest of the world. The self-declared Republic of Somaliland
announced its independence from the rest of Somalia in May 1991 and
has been searching for recognition in vain since then.
Now, it has received support from a think-tank active in development
and security issues, the Senlis Council. "A fast-track to
recognition is urgently needed for Somaliland," a report from the
council states.
"State-in-waiting"
It supports Somaliland’s claim that it is not another enclave
seeking separation. Such a separation would be against the
principles of the African Union.The Senlis Council argues that since
Somaliland is basically the old British Somaliland, which was
independent for five days in 1960 before uniting with Italian
Somaliland, it should be regarded again as a state-in-waiting.The
report calls for a "path to recognition" - including a referendum on
independence, full transition to multi-party democracy and the rule
of law, resolution of its territorial dispute with another region of
Somalia, Puntland, and aid from the United States."Given the turmoil
that characterises the bulk of Somalia, the international community
needs to be reawakened from its torpor on Somaliland while relative
calm exists," the report says.Norine MacDonald, the Canadian lawyer
who is the Senlis Council’s president, said: "This is an untold
story of remarkable endeavour. "Somalia is not a functioning state.
Somaliland is a functioning state.
It is asking for recognition and we call on President George Bush to
lead that recognition."She remarked that while she could not move
around Mogadishu on a recent visit, which she stressed was worse
than Afghanistan and desperate for international aid, she was able
to walk freely around the capital of Somaliland, Hargeisa.The report
places Somaliland in the context of what it calls the "chronic
failures of the US-led war on terror" in Afghanistan, where Ms
MacDonald is based, and Somalia.This war, it claims, is "bolstering
the legitimacy of Somali and Afghan extremists. The recognition of
Somaliland is a political necessity in the fight against extremism."
Long struggle
Despite these calls, it is unlikely that the United States will move
quickly towards formal recognition. The position of the Bush
administration was spelled out in a statement by the State
Department on 17 January this year: "While the United States does
not recognize Somaliland as an independent state, and we continue to
believe that the question of Somaliland’s independence should be
resolved by the African Union, we continue regularly to engage with
Somaliland as a regional administration."The US Assistant Secretary
for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer met Somaliland’s foreign minister
last year. So there is a kind of de facto acceptance of the split,
but the US probably cannot afford to upset Somali President Abdullah
Yusuf Ahmed, who opposes independence for Somaliland.
He is an ally in the US fight
against Islamic militants in the region, notably the Council of
Islamic Courts and the al-Shabab movement.The US is also seeking
four suspects in Somalia it says were part of the al-Qaeda attacks
on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Paul Reynolds
Internet@bbc.co.uk
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