EC005-1999
In the Name of Allah, the Most gracious, the Most Merciful:
To: His Highness King Fahd Ibn Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud;
The Custodian of the Two Holiest Shrines and
The King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;
Cc: His Highness Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud,
Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard;
Cc: His Highness Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud,
Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation, and
Inspector General.
Your Highness:
It’s been a little over a month now since Muslims around the world performed their pilgrimage. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has once again shined in those days of the Hajj, and as always, showed its traditional hospitality, generosity and deep Islamic values to the whole world.
Your Highness, as you are well aware of, Somalis have inhabited the eastern tip of the Horn of Africa for centuries. The semi-arid environment permits little or no cultivation in most parts of theSomali territories. However, the mainstay of Somali life has always been nomadic pastoralism. As some recent studies on the subject show, 65% of Somalis make a living out of nomadic pastoralism, the highest percentage in any country on the face of the earth. It is an age-old tradition and a harsh system whereby nomadic herders, in search of water and grazing land for their herds, have to constantly balance their livestock movements with the fragility of the environment.
Your highness, as you know, the civil war and anarchy that ensued from the downfall of Siad Barre in 1991 has reduced many parts of Somalia into lawlessness and mass starvation.
Your Highness, unlike Somalia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a modern and highly developed state. Saudi Arabia also has a solid track-record of safeguarding Islamic and Arab interests, promoting brotherhood and unity among Islamic and Arab nations, and assisting needy Arabs and Muslims. It is in this capacity of extending a helping hand to your Muslim and Arab brethren in times of need that, we would like to inform you of a matter which is of great concern to us.
Your Highness, your country has recently imposed a total ban on the Somali livestock. The authorities in your commerce Ministry and Chamber of Commerce have attributed their actions against the Somali livestock to the recent Rift Valley Disease outbreak in some parts of the East African countries. But as the attached medical reports by reputable International Health Organizations testify, the Somali livestock are absolutely and unequivocally free from the alleged disease. The ban has had a devastating effect on the Somali communities, whose future was already in doubt. The revenues that the sale of the livestock generates for the Somali society cannot be replaced any time soon. In fact, it is the only source of income for the entire Somali race, whose nomadic way of life has not changed since time immemorial. In any given year, we earn any where between a quarter of a billion and half-a-billion US dollars from the sale of our livestock in your markets. We especially reap an economic windfall from our black-headedsheep, goats, cattle and camels, during the Hajj season.
Your Highness, the Somali communities have lost their livestock market share in your country during the Hajj season that has just ended, due to the ban on their livestock by some of your authorities. And it is usually this time of the year when the Somali trade volume vis-a-vis Saudi Arabia is at its peak. As a result, Somalis have lost their only meager source of income which has sustained them over the years. This loss of revenue may be the final blow to a destroyed country and defeated nation.
We, therefore, hereby request from your highness, to lift the ban on the Somali livestock. We trust that when you look into our dire situation, you will help us re-build our shattered lives and renew our faith. A faith which is to us, as some scholars observed, “as necessary as life, as inevitable as death.”
Sincerely yours,
Somaliland Forum