Ref. SF/EC004-1999 Date. September 27th, 1999
H. E. Theo-Ben Gurirab
President of the 54th General Assembly Mr. President:
We would like to take this opportunity to present an appeal to the current Assembly of the World leaders. Our appeal is an earnest plea for political recognition and economic assistance for the people of Somaliland. As it has become universally known now, The Somali State, thirty years after its creation, disintegrated in 1991 into a patchwork of pre-independence regions and territories. Our people struggled for independence from the dictatorial regime of Siad Barre for many years, and the collapse of the former Somali state and the failure of the unrealistic dream of “Great Somalia” became an impetus for us upon which to proclaim the new Republic of Somaliland on May 18th, 1991, following a popular decision reached in a general assembly of Somaliland’s traditional leaders in Burao, Somaliland.
The lack of International Recognition has placed Somaliland, and most importantly the people of Somaliland in a limbo. Mr. President, we believe this limbo situation contradicts the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human rights, and its core principles of recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. In the past eight years, we, the Somaliland people, have been denied of our basic rights as guaranteed in Article 3 of the UDHR, which states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” The Republic of Somaliland is now a peaceful country with a vibrant free-enterprise economy, a bicameral parliament, an independent judiciary, free press and functioning central and local governments. Yet Somaliland is still denied of its de jure international status, due to the misleading and false disinformation disseminated by some UN member states about Somaliland and the will of its people.
Mr. President, we, the Somaliland people, also believe that the continued denial of our inalienable rights by the International community further contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 15 (1) and (2), which state that “Everyone has the right to a nationality” and that “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his/her nationality,” respectively. Furthermore, Mr. President, we, the Somaliland people, believe that we have been denied of our rights as stipulated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in realizing our freedom. Article 1 of the ICESCR states that “All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right, they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” The lack of any form of recognition for our country has unduly placed numerous obstacles on our existence including the ability to travel, and the capacity and viability to compete in the global economy. This alone should be a concern for the UN.
As has been aptly observed by Gérard Prunier (Le Monde diplomatique, October 1997: SURVIVING WITHOUT THE UN, Somaliland, a Forgotten Country), much of that has been achieved by the Somaliland people with a very limited resources. Yet, sadly, some UN member states are shedding crocodile tears over the “Somalia” issue without any decency of mentioning our fruitful struggle of survival and achievements for the past ten years. We wish the UN and its member states will also listen to our side of the story, for we don’t even have the right to represent ourselves in the UN arena. Mr. President, Somaliland fulfills all the conditions required from sovereign states. It has a permanent population who have expressed their will in various conferences in the last few years, and a clearly defined territory (the former Somaliland Protectorate) with recognized borders. Somaliland has an elected president, two houses of parliament and an independent Attorney General. In the tradition of democracy, a free press holds watch and routinely reports both commendable deeds as well as follies of public institutions and personalities. Somaliland, Mr. President, has all the characteristics of a state with the capacity to enter both bilateral and multilateral relations with other states.
Mr. President, it is against this background that we appeal to the International Community. We believe it is about time the International Community recognized and rewarded the genuine efforts, which are being made by the people of Somaliland and their Government. We strongly believe that it is unfair, on the part of the International Community, that the world holds us hostage for never-ending conflicts in the region. Somaliland Forum