Farhiya Ali Ahmed

Compared with the chaos in Greater Somalia, Somaliland, the breakaway republic of Somalia, which before unification in 1960 was a separate state, is an oasis of peace. And yet its unilaterally declared independence is still not recognised by any country. Farhiya Ali Ahmed reports.

United we stand, divided we fall, goes the saying. The wisdom of this statement is seldom questioned. But where there are parties in a union who do not wish to remain in that union, that adage becomes meaningless. Should unity be preserved at all costs, or the price of an undesired union be acknowledged and even dissolved? This is the dilemma one faces when assessing the Somalia/Somaliland issue.

Somaliland used to be a separate "protectorate" established by the British in 1884 after London concluded a series of treaties with Italy, France and Abyssinia. Pre-independent Somalia was to become the only African country to be severed into five different regions--the northern region became a British protectorate, southern Somalia became an Italian colony, Kenya took over Somali NFD (Northern Frontier District), the region known as Hawd fell under Ethiopia, and today's Djibouti came under French dominion.

"British Somaliland" (as they used to call it) existed as a separate entity until unification with Somalia in 1960, although its existence was temporarily interrupted between 1941 and 1948, first, by Italy's conquest and incorporation of Somaliland into the Italian East Africa Empire, and secondly, by the British re-conquest of Somaliland and the eventual unification of all Somali territories, with the exception of French Somaliland (which became Djibouti).

But when the unification (as decreed by the Berlin Plan) failed, Somaliland was restored to its previous status as British Somaliland, separate and independent.

Among all the five territories, Somaliland was the first to gain independence on 26 June 1960. Five days later, Somalia gained independence from Italy. A union of Somalia and Somaliland was declared, but not without a sequence of interesting events. The Somaliland legislature passed the Union of Somaliland and Somalia Law on 27 June 1960. But Somalia refused to sign it, instead the Mogadishu-based National Assembly, which did not yet have jurisdiction in Somaliland, repealed the treaty. The Somali legislature meanwhile drew up its own Atto di Unione (Act of Union), which Somaliland refused to sign in retaliation. Nonetheless, a new "Republic of Somalia" (encompassing Somalia and Somaliland) was pronounced despite the lack of a valid Act of Union signed by both parties. A proposed unitary constitution that followed was again rejected by Somaliland, and, to the surprise of everybody, the "Republic of Somalia" was recognised worldwide. Then emerged General Siad Barre whose brutal government denied political, commercial and basic human rights to the people of the former Somaliland. Africa Watch, the human rights watchdog group, documented as early as the 1980s and 1990s the "summary killings, arbitrary arrest, detention in squalid conditions, torture, rape, crippling constraints on freedom of movement and expression, and a pattern of psychological intimidation" meted out to the people of the former Somaliland.

The rebellion that surfaced under the flag of SNM (Somali National Movement) also met harsh retaliation from Barre's government. By 1988, the government and the SNM were in a full-scale war, with the government bombing and shelling the major towns in Somaliland, killing over 100,000 and driving out over 500,000 from their homes. The SNM became victorious in February 1991 when Barre fled Somalia.

With Barre gone, a struggle for power began in the south. The SNM forces withdrew to the north. A peace conference of the clans of the north was called in Burao in April 1991. On 18 May 1991, the 1960 union was unilaterally dissolved by the northerners who declared, on the same day, the restoration of Somaliland as an independent state. And their resolution to remain independent is still unwavering.

For the past decade and a half, Somaliland has been on a continuous mission to get the world community to recognise it as an independent sovereignty, separate from Greater Somalia. It has set up stable government and national institutions, it has had two peaceful changes of government as well as internationally-monitored local elections, presidential elections, a referendum, and most recently, a parliamentary election.

It also has its own national flag, coat of arms, currency, and all the abstract features associated with a state. Somaliland also enjoys relative peace and stability. It does not, however, feature on the world stage as a country or a territorial state of its own. It is considered part of Somalia. Greater Somalia, on the hand, has, in those 14 1/2 years been grappling with lawlessness and all the other ills that come with the lack of a proper democratic government. National, regional, and international communities have invested significant quantities of financial and human resources in the hope of resolving the conflict in Somalia and conserving Somali unity.

On the 14th attempt in 2004, the international community was able to put together a Transitional Federal Government of Somalia led by President Abdullahi Yusuf. Currently, UN representatives, the World Bank, donor countries, and Somali warlords and lawmakers are in talks in Nairobi, Kenya, to plan the reconstruction of the country. Yusuf and his MPs, who have been in dispute over where the seat of government should be, are also in talks to end the months of wrangling.

For many, Yusuf represents the greatest hope in resolving the conflict in Somalia and bringing peace to the war-torn country. Somaliland leaders are, however, unanimous in stating that waiting for Somalia to stabilise and hoping Somaliland will then unite with Somalia is a delusion unlikely to materialise. For as long as there has been a search for peace in Somalia, Somaliland and its leaders have also been pursuing international recognition. The dilemma for the African Union (AU) and the rest of the international community is deceptively simple: Should Somaliland's demands for recognition be accepted and Somalia as the world knows it on the map be destroyed? Or, can the wishes of the people of Somaliland be ignored in the hope that Somaliland will change its mind and reunite with Somalia after Somalia gets its act together? In short, should Somali unity be preserved at all costs?

In an internationally observed referendum held in May 2001, 97.9% of Somalilanders voted 'yes' and confirmed their wish to remain separate from Greater Somalia. Leaders of Somaliland have also explicitly stated numerous times that Somalia and Somaliland will engage as two equal states once there is peace and a functioning government in Somalia.

Western officials and governments have made it clear that the answer to Somaliland's requests will have to first come from Africa and African leaders themselves. The AU's preference for maintaining colonial borders is no secret. "The AU's engagement with Somaliland is within the context of the unity of Somalia," affirmed Said Djinnit, the head of the AU's Peace and Security Council. "But the AU has been attentive to the efforts there to rebuild and create stability."

During the parliamentary election held on 29 September 2005, Somaliland leaders hoped that the multi-party election would count towards the achievement of their objective of attaining recognition. "This is the time to tell the international community that we need to be recognised as an independent republic," President Daahir Rayale Kahin told reporters as he cast his vote.

Though there has been no formal recognition of Somaliland by any country worldwide, it has of late been in relations with some of its neighbours. Ethiopia and Djibouti have signed agreements of cooperation with Somaliland. The Ethiopian government has also established a trade liaison office in the Somaliland capital, Hargeisa, and hosts a Somaliland liaison office in Addis Ababa. President Rayale and various ministerial delegates have been hosted by other African countries such as Senegal and South Africa.

In addition, Somaliland and Ethiopia have signed a bilateral agreement (which came into effect in July 2005), to establish customs formalities and improve road links. Ethiopia imported its first cargo of electrical goods through the Red Sea port of Berbera, Somaliland, in mid-November 2005.

Large numbers of UN agencies and international NGOs also operate in Somaliland, thanks to the stability in the region. And according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, "of the 1.2 million refugees that fled Somalia's conflict in 1991, 700,000 have returned to Somaliland, attracted by the dynamic urban areas and relative stability of the region". A stability that international election observers testified to during the 2002 local elections, 2003 presidential elections, as well as in the last parliamentary elections in September 2005.

Despite all these efforts, however, Somaliland remains unrecognised as an independent state.