By Wondwossen Alemayehu Haile
Somaliland is an autonomous, self-declared state ever since 1991. The state had remained a de facto state for the last thirty-three years. Nobody knows for sure how long the de-facto statehood of Somaliland would remain while the global and neighboring countries forfeiting it the right to becoming a sovereign country.
The Republic of Somaliland, which had proclaimed a unilateral declaration of independence, used to be an integral part of the Somali Republic since 1960 until it outrightly declared its autonomy thirty-three years ago. However, the circumstance of statehood is still unilateral and denounced by the mother state: the Somali Republic. The Republic of Somalia still takes a strong stance on the territorial integrity of their country with parts of Somaliland combined, despite Somaliland’s self-declaration of independence for over three decades. What are the pushing factors behind Somaliland to claim secession and remain as a de facto state ever since?
One of the factors predominantly underscored for Somaliland to proclaim statehood separating itself from the political union with the Somali Republic was the systematic and deliberate involvement of the government of the Somali Republic in the humanitarian crisis that claimed the lives of over 200,000 innocent people in parts of Somaliland under the Siyad Barre regime in 1987 and 1988. The government is ascribed accountability for the genocide that happened in the Somali Isaak clan in Somaliland, which was also termed as Somali Holocaust. Such demise of the government precipitated the scholars from part of Somaliland to move forward with the vision of securing autonomy.
The other presumptive pushing factors for Somaliland’s declaration of independence were the clan-based faction and corruption deeply rooted in the government structure, which was infused with systematically segregating the Isaak Clan from political power and any sort of economic opportunities in the country. The government institutions, which were preoccupied with the dominance of a few selected Somali clans, had intensified the proliferation of multiple clan-based armed groups along with Islamic extremists attributable to the collapse of the state. As a result of these persuasive factors and among others, Somaliland’s journey to independence came to set out.
With all such notable grounds for the declaration of independence, the State of Somaliland still remains a de facto state unrecognized by any country in the world and international institutions such as the United Nations. What are the prominent reasons for the neighboring countries such as Ethiopia and the West to deny recognition for the de facto state of Somaliland?
All countries, including neighboring Ethiopia, have unequivocal interest in granting recognition to Somaliland, but it comes with conditions. No country would like to be on the first line to recognize the state of Somaliland for fear of condemnation and political friction from the Somali Republic and its allies, such as Italy, which was its former colonial protectorate.
The other claim by different countries to withhold recognition was the claim that consolidation of the political centralization of the Somali Republic should take precedence to declaring the statehood of Somaliland. The Somalia Republic is still constituted with weak central power becoming safe haven for piracy and diverse armed groups, including the internationally recognized terrorist group, Al-Shabaab. Without the existence of strong central political power in the Republic of Somalia, it is impossible to maintain sustainable peace in the Horn of Africa, which is also tantamount to destabilizing Somaliland. In other words, fixing every sort of problem in Somalia should be a priority over granting recognition to Somaliland.
The Somalia Republic has been under an arms embargo from the United Nations Security Council since 1992 for over 15 years. The sanction of weapons came about to deter further humanitarian crises in the failed state of Somalia. With this and other viable reasons, the United Nations and other countries of the West claim stability and proper functioning of government in the Somali Republic before recognizing the state of Somaliland.
Regardless of all the above presumptuous reasons to deny recognition, the state of Somaliland is sustaining a well-centralized government with a functioning democracy. The de facto state of Somaliland is enjoying sustainable security and economic progress in comparison to the Somali Republic. As a result, there is no plausible ground for Somaliland to turn back to the failed state of Somalia for political union.
Somaliland’s possession of well-defined territorial integrity with a permanent population is the other convincing ground to recognize the state as a sovereign country. The Isaak Somali clan of Somaliland is relatively enjoying sustainable security with progressive economic development, which is Paramount for regional integration and so much more.
What is more, the de facto state of Somaliland comprises of strong and independent military apparatus, which vests more opportunity for recognition as a sovereign country. It constitutes an independent defense force and police institutions as part of the territorial integrity of the state. The establishment of its own currency for the last thirty-three years is the other element taken up to recognize the state as an independent sovereign country.
Ethiopia’s effort to develop Somaliland’s port of Berbera for its use as well as regional integration came about with a strong protest from the Somalia Republic. As the Somali Republic still claims the unilaterally self-declared state as part of its territorial integrity, it demands Ethiopia not to make any direct political dialogue with Somaliland, claiming that Somaliland is part and parcel of the Somalia Republic. For this reason, the central government of the Somalia Republic claims that they should be communicated before any deal with Somaliland, however different the practical sense of politics between Somaliland and the Somalia Republic in the real-life scenario.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs high-level officials’ dialogue with their counterparts from Somalia in Turkey was confirmed to have ended with no viable outcome. On such an important convention, Somalia accused Ethiopia of showing unwillingness to accept the territorial integrity of the Republic of Somalia. While Ethiopia should not be held responsible for the historical intricacies between them.
In a nutshell, the United Nations and all other sovereign countries should call for a stronger centralized government in the Somalia Republic for sustainable regional security in the Horn of Africa and advocate for recognition of the state of Somaliland, which will no longer be part of The Somalia Republic for myriads of viable reasons as explained.
