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| Mohamed Omar is the Foreign Minister of Somaliland. |
Dateline-If Needed — This speech was presented by Mohamed
Omar at Africa Research Institute on 1st May 2013 to mark the launch of
"After Borama: consensus, representation and parliament in
Somaliland".
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to address this
meeting about Somaliland.
The Borama Conference in 1993 was of critical importance
for the future of our country. Broadly speaking, it had three major outcomes.
First, it helped to establish a framework for managing security; second, it
aided the definition of Somaliland's political structures, which laid the
foundations of an independent state; and third, it marked the transfer of power
from the Somali National Movement to a civilian government.
The Transitional National Charter adopted at Borama
reaffirmed Somaliland's sovereign independence, a principle first proclaimed
two years earlier at the Burco Grand Conference of the Northern Peoples.
In 2001, this decision was endorsed by a referendum in which
the overwhelming majority of the population voted to maintain the country's
independence. Since then, the people of Somaliland have not wavered in their
commitment to achieving international recognition of their status as an
independent state.
The present government naturally shares this aspiration
and has sought to advance the vision of an independent Somaliland which enjoys
full international recognition. We have embarked on a process to achieve
recognition through an incremental approach, by strengthening our governance,
consolidating our democracy, reinforcing our security, and cooperating with
other states, including both our neighbours and the major powers. President
Silanyo's recent visits to Ankara, Dubai, London and Washington are evidence of
this.
Meanwhile, we have initiated talks with our neighbour
Somalia in a historic departure from the policy adopted by previous Somaliland
governments. Somaliland accepted the invitation to attend the London Conference
on Somalia in February 2012, and our Parliament changed the law in order to
permit President Silanyo to be present. We persuaded the UK as hosts to accept
language in the final communiqué which recognised the need for the
international community to support any dialogue that Somaliland and Somalia may
agree in order to clarify their future relations. That in turn gave rise to the
meetings at Chevening House and Dubai in June 2012, which launched the talks
process. The meeting in Ankara on 13 April of this year saw the talks resume
under Turkish facilitation, and we now plan a further meeting with Somalia in
the next two to three months.
The dialogue with Somalia will focus in the short term on
security cooperation. We hope that the agenda can then widen to cover a range
of other matters including trade and investment. In the longer term it is our
hope that the talks could provide a means by which the two countries can
address the issue of political relations, and the associated constitutional
questions. We are encouraging the wider international community to support the
dialogue, as it provides a peaceful mechanism by which the concerned parties
can build their on-going collaboration.
Unfortunately, we were unable to accept the invitation to
attend next week's London Conference on Somalia. Our absence is caused by the
fact that Somalia will be a co-host of the meeting, and that, unlike the
February 2012 Conference, the arrangements do not acknowledge the unique status
of Somaliland. Attending the conference on such terms would compromise Somaliland's
position on international recognition, something that as a government we are
not prepared to do.
If Borama marked a major step forward in consolidating
our internal security, Somaliland has since focused on cooperating with
external partners in combating the scourges of terrorism, piracy and jihadism.
Like its neighbours, Somaliland is threatened by terrorism and jihadism, and we
have worked with the USA, UK, Ethiopia and Djibouti amongst others to reduce
this threat, in particular through intelligence sharing.
We have ensured that pirates are unable to use our
country as a safe haven from which to launch their attacks. In February 2012,
our Parliament supported a change in the law to permit convicted pirates to
serve their sentences in our prisons. In the same month, we signed an agreement
with the Seychelles providing for the transfer of such prisoners to our jails,
and there are now around 30 pirates serving prison sentences in Somaliland as a
result. Thanks to help from donors, the prisoners enjoy conditions that comply
with international human rights norms.
In the wider region, Somaliland is becoming more
integrated in economic, political and strategic terms. Djibouti and Ethiopia
are no longer destinations for thousands of Somaliland refugees fleeing
massacres in their homeland; they are now economic and security partners.
Today, Somaliland looks to Djibouti for investment opportunities and
cooperation in anti-piracy and other security initiatives. Ethiopia is a valued
partner in the areas of immigration, counter-terrorism, education and trade,
and Berbera is growing in importance as a major hub for Ethiopian imports and
exports. Talks have been underway at senior official level covering these
issues. Somaliland enjoys cordial relations with Kenya, and has also become
more involved in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), where
we seek observer status.
The transition to civilian government made possible by
Boroma, and the new political structures which the conference agreed, also laid
the foundations for a process of state-building in Somaliland. In 1993,
democracy was more of a dream than a reality. After more than a decade of
peaceful domestic politics, Somalilanders today are preparing to hold a sixth
round of elections to choose their representatives at the presidential,
parliamentary and local levels. All of the recent elections were monitored by
international observers, and were found to be free and fair.
The provision of free universal primary education, the
expansion of medical services and water distribution in both urban and rural
areas, and the return of our diaspora in great numbers all testify to our
achievements. Our government has no foreign debt, and our budget for 2013 of
US$174m is the largest and most balanced in our history. The Somaliland Trust
Fund, set up by the UK and Denmark, will give us a greater say in the way in
which development assistance is spent in Somaliland.
The lack of international recognition of course
negatively impacts lending and insurance provision, discouraging much needed
foreign direct investment in our country. The government is nevertheless doing
its utmost to provide a welcoming investment environment. We have passed an
Islamic Banking Act, and important pieces of legislation on commercial banking
and energy are making their way through parliament.
The USAID- and DFID-funded Investment Climate Unit, as
well as recently having produced guidelines on business confidence, economic
regulations and value-chain assessments, are helping foreign investors navigate
our economy and connecting local business people to regional and global
networks. Coca Cola's opening of a US$17-million state-of-the-art bottling
plant and the latest oil agreement with Norway's DNO demonstrate investors'
confidence in Somaliland. The port of Berbera has the potential to become a
strategic commercial hub both for Somalia and the region.
What all this shows is Somaliland functioning as a state,
maintaining security within defined borders, delivering services to its people,
while collaborating with neighbours and the wider international community to
address regional challenges. That both helps our people in the short term, and
legitimizes Somaliland's claim to international recognition. I cannot say when
Somaliland will be recognized, but I can say that its quest for recognition is
legitimate on both political and legal grounds, and I am therefore confident
that it will happen.
I would now like to turn to the question of eastern
Somaliland. Sool, Sanaag and Togdheer have been a part of Somaliland since the
time that our country was a British protectorate, and remained so after
Somaliland joined the Union of Somalia from 1960 to 1991. Although Garowe
asserts that these regions belong to Puntland, its claim has no legal or
historical basis.
Moreover, the Somaliland government is the only
administrative entity with the electoral mandate to govern, and with the
capacity to maintain security, in the area.
Regrettably, there has been some localized conflict in
the region. In some cases, outsiders with little popular support on the ground,
such as Khaatumo, have fomented violence.
The government's response to violence has been lawful and
proportionate. No accusations of excessive use of force have been voiced by the
international human rights organizations that monitor and visit our country,
such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch; or by UNPOS, the
UNDP-funded Observatory for Conflict and Violence Prevention or other
international NGOs based in Somaliland that monitor and work in these regions.
Somaliland continues to put its faith in the localized
traditional conflict resolution mechanisms that have kept our country peaceful for
so long. Our government continues to engage with local elders and other
stakeholders to address the root causes of our issues. For example, Saleban
Haglatosiye, former leader of the SSC militia, recently chose to join the
Somaliland government. Many other eastern politicians have been incorporated
into the government as well.
Recognising that one of the underlying issues in the
region is its relative poverty, and in particular access to land and water, the
Somaliland Government has decided to focus more money this year on development
projects in the east. National security agencies will also establish a presence
there. Somaliland would welcome further support from donors for this region as
well.
I would like to end by talking about Somalia. Somaliland has
a strong interest in seeing stability restored in our neighbour, and we welcome
the emergence of a more legitimate government under President Hasan Sheikh
Mohamud. We would like to play a role in helping to stabilize Somalia further,
including by sharing our experience of building peace and democracy in a Somali
political context.
The international community should be realistic about the
long and difficult road ahead for Somalia. Recent terrorist attacks in
Mogadishu show how fragile the security situation is, even in the capital
itself, and the government there is largely dependent on AMISOM for maintaining
security in those areas which it nominally controls.
We understand why the international community is placing
a lot of emphasis on ensuring that the new government receives the help which
it requires in order to liquidate the threat from Al Shabaab, secure peace and
stability, and build legitimate government institutions capable of delivering
the services which the Somali people have lacked for more than two decades. At
the same time, a strong Somalia cannot be achieved by neglecting Somaliland's
achievements and aspirations. Doing so would be an historic mistake, and could
serve to undermine a country which has proved itself to be an area of relative
tranquility in an otherwise unstable area. Any diversion of aid away from
Somaliland would put at risk the value of the aid already delivered. The
international community should support both Somaliland and Somalia.
It is understandable that the UN should look again at its
arrangements for delivering aid to the region given the new government in
Mogadishu. However, Somaliland is a separate country with quite different
development needs. It is not acceptable to my government that decisions on aid
to Somaliland should be taken by a UN structure based in Mogadishu, in
consultation only with an entity which has no presence in my country and no
control over our territory. We have made our views clear to the UN on this
point.
It is equally unacceptable to Somaliland that Somalia
should adopt a constitution which purports to lay claim to our territory, or
that it should declare an Exclusive Economic Zone off our coast. I wrote to the
President of the UN Security Council about these points, and emphasised that Somaliland
reserved the right to declare its own Exclusive Economic Zone. Here I would
remind you of the final paragraph in the Ankara Communiqué, in which Somaliland
and Somalia agreed to refrain from any act which may put the continuation of
the Dialogue at risk.
To conclude, Somaliland has come a long way in the 20
years which have passed since the Borama Conference. We have made considerable
progress in the areas of state-building and democratisation. We have engaged
with the international community, collaborating in efforts to defeat terrorism,
jihadism, and piracy. We took the initiative to embark on a dialogue with
Somalia, which offers a means whereby we can discuss our views on Somaliland's
political status. We will continue our efforts to achieve international
recognition. We believe that the international community will come to realize
that recognising our country will be an essential means of stabilising the Horn
of Africa.
Thank you.
Mohamed Omar is the Foreign Minister of Somaliland.
