Press Statement from Somaliland Foreign Ministry
28 January 2013

Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Somaliland in response to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s
revised travel advice for Somaliland.
The Government of the Republic of Somaliland takes its
responsibility to protect foreign natio nals living and working in
the country very seriously. International organisations,
multination al businesses and other foreign entities have been
operating securely in Somaliland for many years, thanks to the
resources we have invested in our security institutions, and the
willing ness of the general public to cooperate with the Government
in defeating security threats from terrorists.
We do everything in our power to ensure that the Somaliland security
forces are employed to the fullest extent in protecting the public,
including foreign nationals living here.
The Somaliland government is investigating thoroughly the specific
concerns underlying the change in the travel advice which the UK’s
Foreign & Commonwealth Office issued on 27 Jan uary. So far our
efforts have failed to uncover any evidence to substantiate the
information contained in the revised advice. We will continue to
investigate until we are fully satisfied that the issue has been
addressed. We also have an ongoing dialogue and collaboration with
our international partners in this regard, and reiterate our
appreciation of the support that Somaliland receives on security
matters.
Somaliland has been cooperating with the UK and other foreign
governments on many secur ity-related issues for some time now. We
have received support for the training of the secu rity forces, as
well as on the investigation of specific threats. Somaliland has not
only been successful in maintaining its record as a bastion of peace
and stability in a volatile region, but has also been a reliable
partner to the international community in the prevention of spill
over from the instability in the Horn of Africa. We will continue to
work with domestic and international partners to ensure a
satisfactory resolution to this matter.
Mohamed A Omar
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Somaliland.
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