Somaliland Independence Day: Statement by the Honourable Jim



Honourable Jim Karygiannis,

Member of Parliament, Scarborough-Agincourt

I would like to take this opportunity to wish members of the Somaliland Canadian community a Happy Independence Day.
 

Somaliland, located in the Horn of Africa, asserted its independence as the Republic of Somaliland on May 18, 1991.

Somaliland was a British protectorate from 1884 to June 26, 1960, when it first gained independence. On July 1, 1960, it joined the former Italian Somalia becoming the  Som ali Republic. During its formative years, the union functioned well under democratic rule, with the last democratic election being held in 1969. In the 1970s, the union  beg an to falter following the takeover of the government by a dictatorship. During the civil war of the 1980s, thousands were massacred, their lands and livelihoods pillaged beyond recognition.

In 1991, after the breakdown of the central government of the Somali Republic, the area formerly known as British Somaliland declared independence.

The Republic of Somaliland is an autonomous region that remains unrecognized by any country or international organization, although many foreign governments maintain  i nformal ties with the state. Somaliland’s emerging democracy combines traditional an d western systems of governance.

I have visited Somaliland on two occasions and have been an international election ob server. In engaging Somalilanders and members of the Somaliland Diaspora in Canada and abroad, I applaud their ongoing efforts to seek international recognition.

As the Chair of the Canada-Somaliland Parliamentary Friendship Association, I, togeth er with members of the Diaspora, am closely watching developments with respect to the timing of the next presidential election in Somaliland.

Kathy Gooch, Media Relations

Office of The Hon. Jim Karygiannis,P.C., M.P.

Scarborough-Agincourt

Tel: (416)321-5454

Fax: (416)321-5455

kathy@karygiannismp.com

www.karygiannismp.com