Given that Somaliland is such a beacon of democracy in Africa, your article seems to be unduly negative about the prospect of its recognition, saying that this will “infuriate” Somalia (Exclusive: Somaliland president says recognition of state ‘on the horizon’ following Trump talks, 30 May).
The former British Somaliland was given its independence in 1960 and chose to join with the former Italian Somaliland to form Somalia, while the former French Somaliland wisely chose to sit it out as Djibouti. Its reward, during the rule of the dictator Siad Barre, was death and destruction in the “hidden war”, a period when many were resettled to Britain (particularly Cardiff, where the first Somalis had arrived in the 1850s) from refugee camps, mainly in Ethiopia.
It is now 34 years since Somalilanders pushed back Barre’s army and reasserted its independence. Since then, we have seen several peaceful transitions from one president and party to another following elections.
In 2007, I led a UK parliamentary delegation, supported by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, to Somaliland and we also visited the African Union in Addis Ababa to ask why it had not yet recognised Somaliland. The answer was that an internal report recommending recognition was gathering dust because some of its members feared that recognition might encourage breakaway provinces in other countries. But Somaliland is not a breakaway province – it’s a nation that reasserted its independence and has shown a capacity for building its own democratic institutions, pursuing peace and security, and fostering economic growth.
In the same period that Somaliland has been a successful democracy, Somalia (the residual south) has been a failed state. Why should those who currently run Somalia not be told to focus on imitating the peace, democracy, cohesion and economic success of Somaliland, instead of being encouraged in a land grab?
Understandably perhaps, Foreign Office officials are reluctant to recognise Somaliland before any nation in the region does so, but Britain should stand ready to come second with recognition. Or have we forgotten the enormous contribution made by soldiers from British Somaliland during the second world war and that of Somaliland’s seamen since the middle of the 19th century, as well as the contribution that Somalilanders make nowadays in the UK?
Alun Michael
MP for Cardiff South and Penarth (1987–2012); former chair, all-party parliamentary group for Somaliland and Somalia
