Somaliland Calls Somalia Attempts to Re-Write Dialogue Terms ‘Bluster’ and ‘Distraction’

Press Statement on the Government of Somalia’s Approach to the Dialogue Process

The Government of the Republic of Somaliland would like to respond to the Government of
Somalia’s recent announcement of what it refers to as ‘The National Committee for
Reconciliation and the Somaliland Dialogue.’ While we welcome all gestures aimed at
genuine dialogue between us and our neighbour, this announcement must be seen for what it is; a disingenuous attempt to paper over the Somalia Government’s policy of aggression and punishment directly targeting the Somaliland people, simply for seeking to preserve the
the independence we suffered so hard to achieve over the past three decades.

If the current Government of Somalia was genuinely committed to the Dialogue, it would not
seek to obstruct the development support that Somaliland received from the international
community through modalities such as the Somaliland Special Arrangement, nor would it
attempt to attack and extort the livelihoods of our population, already suffering from
recurrent drought, by politicising livestock exports. At the same time, it would not abandon
the confidence-building meeting organised by our international partners, and which
Somaliland representatives attended in good faith, in Nairobi on 25 June of this year, and it
would not forsake past agreements on airspace co-administration, or commitments to refrain
from inflammatory behaviour.

In appointing this committee, Somalia has betrayed and sought to re-write the initial terms of
the Dialogue: those which were set out in the Communiqué of the London Conference at
Lancaster House on 23 February 2012. These terms, which were mutually agreed upon and
subsequently reaffirmed at various subsequent internationalised meetings between 2012 and 2014, was that the purpose of such Dialogue was to ‘clarify future relations’ between
Somaliland and Somalia. The agreed interpretation of such Dialogue was thus that:

1. Somaliland and Somalia are to come to the table as two separate and equal entities.

2. The two sides involved are those that were separate states in 1960, and who
subsequently joined in union: in other words, it is about where the relationship
between the two territories stands after decades of Siyad Barre’s militarised
oppression, and after 29 years of the Somaliland people’s democratic decision to
legally dissolve that union.

3. This is an internationalised issue and has nothing to do with Somalia’s internal
politics

In the wake of the atrocities committed by Siyad Barre, and the lingering impact of such
trauma on the lives of both the Somaliland and Somalia people, there is, of course, a genuine need for reconciliation at many levels. Any discussion between our two sides will off courseseek to repair and address lingering grievances, as a way to enable both sides to move on, andto live together as friendly and cooperative neighbours in the future.

However, the Government of Somalia’s novel inclusion of the term ‘reconciliation’ in its reformulation of the Dialogue does not seek true reconciliation. If that was its aim, it would not attack us, but would welcome us as true brothers, and would have made use of past opportunities for genuine, good-faith dialogue. The Government would call off this campaign of aggression and isolation, and would not incorporate former war criminals, those who perpetrated massacres against the Somaliland people, in its administration. True reconciliation will only come when the Government of Somalia acknowledges that it is up to the people of Somaliland to determine their own future and that it is the Government of Somaliland alone that represents the Somaliland people.

True reconciliation will only come when the Government of Somalia stops attempting to
create enmity and animosity between the people of Somaliland and Somalia by referring to
Somaliland’s state-building project as a ‘secessionist movement,’ rather than acknowledging it for what it is: the grassroots and legitimate realisation of democratic self-determination.

Through proffering ‘your either with us or against us’ mentality, the Government of Somalia
has sought to negatively politicize relations between our two peoples, thereby closing space
for true reconciliation – which, as Somaliland learned through its own successful decade-long process, ultimately only comes about through grassroots peacebuilding.

The Somaliland Government has shown the international community its clear commitment to substantive dialogue and has presented a clear agenda of what the Dialogue process should look like. Such a process entails:

1. A credible and serious partner to engage with.

2. An explicit commitment to cease and desist from all inflammatory and combative
gestures.

3. The commitment to a process that treats Somaliland and Somalia as equal and
separate, and which works towards the goal of clarifying future relations.

4. A need to enforce all agreements, past and future, through international mechanisms
of accountability and punishment.

5. An internationalised dialogue, mediated by a body neutral foreign governments, in
which Somaliland’s case for independence can be presented to the world: a case with
strong legal standing.

Until the Government of Somalia proves itself ready and willing to meet those fair and just
conditions, all other gestures are mere rhetoric, bluster and distraction. The Somaliland
Government is confident that, once such conditions are met, and once Somaliland gets its
chance to present its full legal and political case, the Government and people of Somalia will be convinced of the legal merit, political reality and moral worthiness of Somaliland’s
dissolution of its independence in 1991, and its reclamation of independence.

However, ultimately, this decision is not for Somalia to make – it is for the Somaliland people to decide, and for the international community to recognise, based on the legal substance of our case.

The Somaliland Government agreed to engage with the Government of Somalia in the service of broader regional cooperation and mutual understanding, but we will not be held hostage by its intransigence.

We call on the international community to finally address the issue of Somaliland’s recognition, with or without Somalia’s cooperation.