Somaliland gov’t expresses resentment on UN Special Envoy’s report to the Security Council

By SSI staff writer

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- the Somaliland Ministry of Foreign Affairs this week issued a statement criticizing the report made by UN Somalia and environs stating that the report made substantial distortions on the situation in Somaliland suppressing the progress made in Somaliland.

In the statement issued this week the Somaliland Ministry of Foreign Affairs charges that the report misrepresents the security situation in Somaliland. The report the Secretary General made to the Security Council inadvertently stated that “Security in the north of Somalia remains fragile, but the situation there is relatively better than in southern and central Somalia. The fact-finding mission attempted to visit Hargeysa in “Somaliland” but was prevented from doing so by security concerns caused by a political rally. “Somaliland” and “Puntland” continue to dispute their border in the Sool and Sanag regions, centred on the city of Laasaanood.”

It is to the dismay of our government that the report of the SG’s special envoy to Somalia and Somaliland deliberately used words such as ‘Fragile’ to denote that peace has never prevailed in Somaliland. In fact “The security situation in Somaliland is not ‘fragile’ and apparently the situation in Somaliland is incomparable with the one in southern and central Somalia. Somaliland has enjoyed peace and stability since the 1990s, and is a functioning democracy, in complete contrast to south-central Somalia. The only ‘fragility’ in the security situation of Somaliland has been in the East of Somaliland in Sool and Sanaag provinces where the authorities of neighboring Puntland have contested militarily Somaliland’s sovereignty over its colonial borders. Here too, the situation is now stable now that Somaliland controls all of its territory”, said the statement.

The press statement also expressed its dismay that the SG’s special envoy to Somalia and Somaliland did not mention anything on his visit to Somaliland and subsequent meetings he had with the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs in which adequate discussions had taken place on the issues pertaining to the quest of the people and government of Somaliland.
The response by the Somaliland Ministry of foreign affairs comes after a report made by Ban Ki Moon UN Security General’s report to the UN Security Council assessing the situation in the Horn based on the report presented to him by Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia and Somaliland. The report had made mention on Somaliland in regards to the security situation as being fragile. The statement also according to the ministry of foreign affairs fails to mention the true reality in regards to the progress made by Somaliland in bring about peace and security and building democracy.

“Despite the visit made by H.E. Ahmedou Ould Abdallah to Somaliland where he had had extensive discussions with H.E. Dahir Rayale Kahin, President of Somaliland H.e. Abdulahi Duale, foreign minister of Somaliland no mention was made in regards to the consensus reached in regards to Somaliland’s aspirations and current political situation in Somaliland”, reads the statement•