Recognising
the value of Somaliland
This brave and resourceful African nation is in trouble. We must
offer it our support, if only to build a bulwark against terrorism
Jeremy
Sare
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 12 September 2009 15.00 BST
Article history
Gordon Brown, in his speech on the war in Afghanistan last week
served up that old truism: failed states are a seedbed for terrorism
and establis hing democratic elections are the long-term
solution. Pity then that this principle is not applied more widely.
The violent scenes in Somaliland's parliament on Tuesday, following
the th ird cancellation of the presidential
election, showed one country's fragile democracy crumbling
before our eyes. One MP even pulled a pistol on his colleagues. Why
is no country, such the old colonial power Britain, offering to
mediate and prevent an eruption of hostilities?
The electoral dispute is relatively simple; it stems from
disagreements ab out the best system of voter registration. A
similar impasse in another Af rican country would have
elicited an immediate offer of international arbi tration. But
so far, nothing. It is because the world cannot find the coura
ge to recognise Somaliland, which forms the northern part of
Somalia, as a sovereign state.
The recent elections in Afghanistan attracted more than £100m in
funding from western countries, in addition to hosts of observers
and support st aff. Somaliland, given the chance, could also
form a bulwark against regio nal Muslim extremism and
terrorism. Lord Malloch-Brown, on leaving the Foreign Office in July
said Somalia was a bigger potential source for terror ism in
the UK than Afghanistan.
The threat is not academic. The ultra-extremists of Al-Shabab
effectively control south central Somalia and they have made clear
their murderous contempt for the "un-Islamic" democracy of
Somaliland. A series of multip le bombs in Somaliland's
capital, Hergeisa last year killed more than 20.
Somaliland's democratic institutions were born of one people's
determi nation to find peaceful resolution to a bitter civil war.
Although extremely poor, it has emerged as a brave and resourceful
country. Yet the United Nations, the EU and Britain seem content to
sit idly by, observing this vulnerable country descend into the
familiar chaos of its neighbours in Somalia and Eritrea. Ahmed Yusuf
of Somaliland Focus (UK) said: "The involvement of the international
community is paramount and desperately needed. Let us not abandon
Somaliland … as they did to Somalia 19 years ago."
So far the only country to make any kind of intervention has been
Ethio pia. Although assistance should be welcomed from any quarter,
the long-standing antagonism between Somalis and Ethiopeans makes
this offer of help more problematic than useful. Imagine India
offering to negotiate be tween political parties in Pakistan.
Britain and the US's decision not to act to preserve this young
African democracy is directly attributable to Somaliland's lack of
recognition as a sovereign nation, despite nearly 20 years of
stability. The UN still clings to an absurd notion Somaliland should
rejoin its wayward cousin, Somalia. The union of the two countries
(1960-1991) was an undoubted failure by any measure and referendums
in Somaliland have shown immovable resis tance to its
restoration. It would be about as welcome as telling the Scots they
should be part of England.
The US maintains a freer role than Britain and pivotal one at that.
Hillary Clinton's recent seven country tour of Africa shows the
continent has risen much higher on the state department's agenda.
But Washington still appears widely divided (between state and
defence departments) on the issue of diplomatic recognition.
A Foreign Office spokesperson hinted independence was an achievable
go al eventually: "Free and fair elections will be vital to
Somaliland's democr atic credentials." But a former Foreign
Office minister described their case as a "no-brainer". So there
looks to be a similar conflict of opinion betwe en British
officials. But regarding the current crisis, the Foreign Office
co uld offer nothing more than this lethargic response: "A new
election time table should be decided by independent experts
and should be agreed by all the parties of Somaliland."
Professor Ioan Lewis,
a leading expert on the region, sees Somaliland pre sident
Dahir Riyale Kahin's
"sticky" presidential chair as the main problem. "It is down
to the reluctance of the
current president, like so many leade rs elsewhere, to
follow the constitution and accept that his term is over … his
obduracy and growing charges
of corruption have prompted this co nstitutional
crisis," he said.
Somaliland's situation underlines the international community's
unerring ability to show a failure of leadership. While leaders
dither about the etiq uette of which country should be first
to agree Somaliland diplomatic rela tions, the country risks
capitulation. Its continued isolation can only harm all of us – even
from an entirely selfish point of view, we should help them.
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