Ref SF/EC-003-2000
Tuesday 21st March 2000
The Somaliland Forum, an organisation that unites Somaliland intellectuals in the Diaspora, opposes the latest “Somalia” peace initiative promoted by the Djibouti government. The proposed Somalia peace initiative conference is scheduled to be held in Djibouti, East Africa.
The Forum believes that the exaggerated support this Djibouti initiative has gathered is ill placed as its central premise that it will appeal to the civil society over the heads of the so-called warlords has not been and cannot be delivered. It is this simplistic message that has attracted strange political bed-fellows such as Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya, but the Somaliland Forum believes, it is deeply flawed because it disregards the expressed wishes of the civil society in Somaliland and other peaceful parts of Somalia.
The Djibouti conference has extended invitations to many individuals who do not officially represent the Somali people. Furthermore, it has been reported that individuals who were involved in the destruction of Somaliland and other parts of Somalia during the Barre’s regime have been invited to participate in this peace process; this alone should be a concern to the International Community.
Also, Djibouti’s insistence that a central transitional government be appointed for the whole of the Somali territories disregards what the civil society has already achieved in many parts of these territories and, in particular, in the Republic of Somaliland, where the civil society has already spoken and determined its own destiny as a sovereign independent state. Instead of building on these achievements, this conference aims to destroy these efforts and resurrect a central government. As such, far from heralding a new dawn of peace for all, it is likely to suck peaceful Somaliland, and the Northern and Central regions of Somalia into a new cycle of conflict.
The Somaliland Forum believes that this conference will spawn an unrepresentative, un-elected interim government in Mogadishu, which will promptly use the fig leaf of international legitimacy in subduing the very civil society that has created peace in the Republic of Somaliland and other areas. We have already seen threats by the conference organizers to use the veneer of international support in bringing into line those who do not agree with the outcome of the conference. Somaliland will not fall in line because there is nothing in this initiative that meets the wishes and aspirations of its people. Somaliland regained its independence and built a peaceful nation with no or little international support, and no amount of illegitimate pressure will make it re-unite with Somalia. The Republic of Somaliland has a vibrant free market economy, a bicameral parliament, an independent judiciary, a free press, and functioning central and local governments. Yet, Somaliland is still denied recognition because of misguided attempts to re-constitute Somalia.
“It is ironic that Djibouti, as former French Somaliland, and one of the five regions of the Horn where ethnic Somalis live, chose to be a free standing country on its independence. Somaliland, which on its independence, in 1960, wrongly chose, to its everlasting cost, to pursue the chimera of “Greater Somalia” has reasserted its sovereignty in 1991, and demands nothing less than what Djibouti has – an internationally recognized independent state”, said Jama Musse Jama, Chairman of the Somaliland Forum.
The Somaliland Forum, therefore, urges the UN, the OAU, the Arab League and all the countries of the world to re-examine thoroughly the proposals of the Djibouti conference, and to accept the reality of Somaliland as an independent state. As we believe this will, in the long term, contribute to the peace and stability in the region.
Background:
1. The Somaliland Forum is an international organization that brings together Somalilanders from all parts of the world through the medium of the Internet. The primary objective of the Forum is to work with the communities around the world in order to provide some lasting solutions to the problems and needs of Somaliland and its people. The Forum primarily sponsors public programs that benefit a wide array of needs such as Education, Health, and Infrastructure. It has, in the past, helped schools, universities, hospitals, and orphanages. In addition, the Forum closely follows the regional and local politics in Somaliland, and is active in responding to issues that the Forum finds important.
2. The Forum has also sent an appeal letter to the World Leaders. Copies of this letter and further information can be obtained from the contacts listed below, or forum’s website http://www.somalilandforum.com.