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| Map of Somalia http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/africa/somalia/ |
The war and instability in Somalia has been going on for a
long time- 21 years in 2012 to be exact. I was only a few years old when it all
exploded and remember vivid pictures on TV (my parents still had a black and
white TV then) of American soldiers that had been killed being paraded on the
streets of Mogadishu. And things have never been the same since. Many
atrocities have been committed by a number of groups and very often (because of
the prolonged war) a lot of people are unaware of the real issues surrounding
the crisis in Somalia. I am going to write a series of blogs that provide some information
and sources of information on the crisis in Somalia.
For those geographically challenged (please raise your hands
if you have watched the KONY2012 video and heard the narrator talking about
Uganda being in Central Africa!), Somalia is the easternmost country in East Africa
in a region often referred to as the Horn Africa. It is bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden with Yemen to the north,
the Indian Ocean to the east, and Ethiopia to the west. It has the
longest coastline on the continent, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus,
plains and highlands. Hot conditions prevail year-round, along with periodic
monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.
Somalia was colonised by both Britain and Italy and gained independence
in 1960 although it was under the rulership of Britain in 1941-1950. Prior to
this, Somalia was split into British Somaliland, Italian Somaliland (both on
the Coast), and the Dervish State (controlled by Muhammad Abdullah Hassan in
the interior). In 1960, all these regions amalgamated into one, the Somalia
Republic which would be led by a Civilian government. In 1961, the country adopted
its first constitution resulting from a nationwide referendum
In 1969 Abdi Rashid Ali Shirmarke, Somalia's second
President, was assassinated and in the following days a military coup, led by
Major General Muhammed Siyad Barre, gained control of the country. In 1970
Barre declared Somalia a socialist state successfully ending any hope for a
multi party democracy. Somalia had always wanted to claim all the other areas
in neighbouring countries that had Somali populations (Kenya, Djibouti, and Ethiopia)
and it’s a move to reconcile with Ethiopia over this issue that led to this
military coup (Somalia has since reconciled with Kenya and Djibouti over this
issue). Somalia and Ethiopia have been enemies since the 16th Century and as we
will see in future blogs, this animosity has somewhat contributed to the
instability in Somalia.
The regime of Barre proved to be unfriendly to opposition
parties, ethnically divided and the excessive use of the military to protect interests
of the regime were evident. By the 1980’s, Somalia had engaged in another
conflict, to seize the region of Ogaden from Ethiopia but had lost the war and
intensified the animosity between the two countries. During the cold War, the Americans
supported Somalia in another conflict with Ethiopia aimed at protecting its
territory in the West. By the late 1980s wars had broken out in the Northern
region of the country (between ethnic groups and government forces), many ethnic
groups had armed young men to fight the Defence Force and with continued
looting of the national treasury by Barre and his ‘kitchen’ cabinet, the
economic collapse of Somalia was evident.
In 1991, a coup, by opposing clans, overthrew Barre and this
was the beginning of the end of any form of governance in Somalia. The country
has had no central government since then. Various negotiations have led to the institution
of transitional national governments (at one point this government was fully
based in Kenya), many international conferences have been held to discuss how
to resolve the crisis, food insecurity, economic collapse and vulnerabilities within
Somalia especially for the poor have intensified, and the situation has
worsened for many that are unable to leave the country. Yet, in 2012, the
international community (including Somalis in exile) has been unable to resolve
the crisis. But is it the international community that should be solving the
crisis or is it Somalis in Somalia? And if the latter, do they have enough
capacity to resolve the issues?
Somalia is indeed plagued by a myriad of problems, and needs
a myriad of solutions as we will see in future blogs.
On the next blog, we look at the big issues in the Somali
Conflict!
For more background information on Somalia’s history:
- Somalia Profile http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094503
- Somalia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia
- Background Note: Somalia http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2863.htm
- Somalia: a country in Turmoil http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~jmroth/index.htm
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