Somaliland: still no recognition
Published by Voice of the Cape on 15 August 2011
The lack of international recognition for Somaliland which this year celebrated 20 years since its split for Somalia is making it increasingly difficult for aid to come into that country where more than half the population are in need of humanitarian assistance. According to Omer Jama Farah, chairperson of the NGO, Taakulo Somaliland Community (TASCO), more than 1.85 million Somalilanders are in need of help in the mounting Horn of Africa famine.
The comment comes as South Africa and Tanzania on Saturday announced that they were not ready yet to recognise Somaliland, saying that they believe it should not be split off from Somalia. This emerged following bilateral talks between Tanzanian foreign affairs minister Bernard Membe and South Africa's international relations and co-operation minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in Pretoria on Saturday. Membe said that he would be meeting a delegation from Somaliland within the next two weeks, but would not comment on the details of the talks until they had happened.
Both Membe and Nkoana-Mashabane said they would prefer to see Somalia remain as a single country. Nkoana-Mashabane said: "Somaliland at the moment in our memory is part of Somalia. We do not want to encourage the disintegration of countries. For now in line with the AU we are not in the business of not disbanding, dismantling and dismembering countries."
In May Somalia's breakaway Somaliland state celebrated 20 years since it split from the rest of Somalia. To date no country has officially recognised the former British protectorate in the north of Somalia despite the fact that it has enjoyed relative stability unlike the rest of Somalia which has been plagued by famine and war. But while this situation persists, Somaliland runs the risk of becoming another famine region is international action is not taken quickly, activists warned.
The comment comes as South Africa and Tanzania on Saturday announced that they were not ready yet to recognise Somaliland, saying that they believe it should not be split off from Somalia. This emerged following bilateral talks between Tanzanian foreign affairs minister Bernard Membe and South Africa's international relations and co-operation minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in Pretoria on Saturday. Membe said that he would be meeting a delegation from Somaliland within the next two weeks, but would not comment on the details of the talks until they had happened.
Both Membe and Nkoana-Mashabane said they would prefer to see Somalia remain as a single country. Nkoana-Mashabane said: "Somaliland at the moment in our memory is part of Somalia. We do not want to encourage the disintegration of countries. For now in line with the AU we are not in the business of not disbanding, dismantling and dismembering countries."
In May Somalia's breakaway Somaliland state celebrated 20 years since it split from the rest of Somalia. To date no country has officially recognised the former British protectorate in the north of Somalia despite the fact that it has enjoyed relative stability unlike the rest of Somalia which has been plagued by famine and war. But while this situation persists, Somaliland runs the risk of becoming another famine region is international action is not taken quickly, activists warned.
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