- Title: [SW Editorial] (Humanitarian Affairs Review -
Autumn 2000) Outside involvement risks perpetuating the Somali conflict
- Posted by/on: [AAJ][17 Oct 2000]
(Published by Humanitarian Affairs Review -
Autumn 2000 pages 44-50)
Under
Country file -
SOMALIA
"Outside involvement risks perpetuating the
Somali conflict"
UN
intervention and successive reconciliation attempts have done little to fill the civil
vacuum in Somalia. Ali A. Jama argues that the international community should now
let Somalia resolve its own problems
(Ali A.Jama is a Somali-Canadian
Chemical Engineer and Plant Manager working for a Fertilizer Company. He is also the
founder and the Managing Director of the Web site www.somaliawatch.org,
which addresses Somali Issues)
Somalia has experienced the longest period of statelessness in the
contemporary world. It is also one of the least developed
countries, as measured by the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development
Index.
The international community has attempted to assist Somalia through a
series of conferences, reports and intervention by the UN. None of these initiatives have
succeeded, mainly because there is a widespread lack of understanding of the roots of the
problems in this country. It is essential to see the recent civil war and
the breakdown of the state in the context of Somalia’s
turbulent history and its nomadic culture.
Nomadic culture
Although the Somali people have a common language and religion, a
defined geographical territory and a common culture, history, tradition and racial origin,
Somalia is living proof that these characteristics alone are not enough to build a nation.
The Somalis are largely nomadic, roaming throughout the Horn of Africa.
They live in small, temporary hamlets that are dismantled and loaded on to camels for
quick and easy migration. Because of this nomadic way of life, social units tend to be
small and self-sufficient. This style of life has created a people that have been
described as "independent in nature, temperamental and strikingly intelligent."
Roughly 80% of the Somali population is "pastoral nomadic"
and only 20% can be described as urban agricultural. The social and economic life of
Somalia is therefore defined by a nomadic, rural style of life with trade consisting
mainly of agricultural products. Over many years there has been
a continuous movement of the population from the rural areas to the big urban
centers in
the south like Mogadishu, where there is a now large permanent urban population, mostly
dependant on agriculture.
4,000 years of history
The recorded history of life in The Horn of Africa goes back almost
4000 years when the ancient Egyptians imported frankincense from Somalia, which they
called the "Land of Punt". It was later a center for trade by the Phoenicians,
Greeks, Indians and other East Asians, but went into decline with the Christian era.
At the end of nineteenth century, the area was partitioned between the
European colonial powers and Ethiopia. The Somali peninsula, one of the most culturally
homogeneous regions of Africa, was divided into British Somaliland, French Somaliland,
Italian Somaliland, Ethiopian Somaliland (the Ogaden), and what came to be called the
Northern Frontier District (NFD) of Kenya.
The modern Somali state was eventually formed by the union of the
former British and Italian parts in 1960. The issue that dominated post-independence
politics was the unification of all areas populated by Somalis into one country--a concept
identified as Greater Somalia.
The character of the country's newly formed institutions was shaped by
this preoccupation with Greater Somalia which eventually led to the build-up of the
military forces and ultimately to the war with Ethiopia in 1964 and the fighting in the
Northern Frontier District of Kenya.
Under the military junta
The turning point in Somali fortunes occurred in 1969 when the civil
government was overthrown by a military junta. The coup was followed by the brutal and
authoritarian regime of Mohamed Siyad Barre that continued for 21 years. During this time
the fabric of the society was slowly and meticulously dismantled.
The regime used Somalia’s geographically strategic location in the
Horn of Africa to attract funds from the superpowers during the cold war and is said to
have attracted one of the highest amounts of per capita foreign aid in the world between
1960 and 1990. By the mid-1970s, Somalia had also one of Africa’s largest standing
armies, and spent from 40% to 50% of its budget on defense and security.
Détente between the East and the West removed the strategic importance
of military bases in the Horn, and in turn soon led to a decline in military aid. The
regime was weakened, with the result that Somalia was plagued by a series of local and
armed insurrections during the 1980s.
Disintegration
In 1988, aid from the West was frozen following a series of reports of
genocide and human rights violations. Within two years the regime collapsed, marking the
end of the Somali state. This was followed by a seven-year period of violent warfare and
banditry throughout the country. Siyad Barre’s manipulation of clans had created an
atmosphere of mistrust and hostility that gradually weakened both the traditional and the
national institutions. So when the government collapsed in January 1991, the institutions were
not solid enough to prevent the whole country from disintegrating.
Mogadishu, the nation's capital, was specially affected by the collapse
of law and order. The problem was that the nation's assets were overwhelmingly
concentrated in the city. It was estimated that over 90% of the national assets, the only
functioning government departments, 50-60% of the nation’s population, and dozens or
even hundreds of well-stocked army barracks with huge ammunition depots were concentrated
in Mogadishu alone. In other words, Somalia was a nation with one vital element and when
Mogadishu collapsed, Somalia immediately ceased to be a nation.
A ‘black hole of anarchy’
During the civil war Mogadishu experienced irreparable physical
damages The city was destroyed beyond recognition, and much of its physical beauty is lost
forever. All the official records it once housed were also destroyed or lost. The city
became a graveyard for thousands of Somalis and home to thousands of
others maimed by
the violent civil war that raged in the city for 10 years. Mogadishu is also the hub of an
area once described by UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, as "a black
hole of anarchy" where gangs call the shots.
After the defeat of the government forces in January 1991, the victorious
militias turned their guns on the innocent civilian population of Mogadishu and its
environs, specifically targeting the non-Hawiye clans. Rampaging militias indiscriminately
massacred innocent civilians. An unprecedented level of humanitarian abuse including mass
rape, torture and killing was also reported. Thousands lost their lives and hundreds of
thousands were forced to flee their homes. Many former residents of Mogadishu have now
lost hope of ever returning to their homes and have opted to go back to their 'clan home
bases' to rebuild their lives.
The beginning of a new order
What does the future hold for Somalia? In the best case scenario, the
country will be de-centralized into smaller manageable units. Each unit will need to
develop its own economic base and modern institutions, including all levels of education,
to allow it to exist as viable entity. For instance, it should not be necessary to travel
hundreds of kilometers to Mogadishu to have access to an international telephone call or
to renew a passport. If Somalia evolves in this way it will also be able to tap the
potential resources of the country more efficiently. The sum of the decentralized
units
will make up a strong nation with many functioning elements.
A study group commissioned by the EU with the assistance of the UN
Development Office also concluded in its study - A study of Decentralized Political
Structure for Somalia 1995 - that the country should be de-centralized into "a
federal or confederate or even into decentralized unitary state." The study also
concluded that the "bottom up approach," which essentially means the building of
political structures in which full participation of the civil society is ensured, was the
only viable option for the reconstitution of Somalia as a nation. It also explicitly acknowledged
the failure of big centralized structures to bring peace. The so-called Northern Recovery
Area, which is made up of two 'states' - Somaliland and Puntland is leading in the
implementation of the "bottom up approach."
Tribal republics
It is also possible that Somalia could break up into a number of tribal
republics following the example of Somaliland, which seceded in 1991. Somaliland's
justification for secession was based on the historical fact that it was a British colony
while the rest of the former Somali state was an Italian colony. Many Somalis question the
validity of this argument.
The breakaway of Somaliland will undoubtedly encourage some other
groups to do likewise. This could be a devastating option to choose because of the
potential for disputes over land jurisdiction. Puntland is already involved in such a
dispute with Somaliland and because of the Somali nomadic way of life the tribal habitats
are areas of land with constantly changing frontiers. There are no tribal designated
areas, and usually no clear tribal frontiers in the Somali territories. The notion of
breaking up the country into tribal republics could well prove unworkable.
The Puntland model
The regional state of Puntland may, however, be laying the foundations
for the reconstitution of the Somali nation. Puntland was established in 1998 and was a
major political development. It consists of five of the 18 regions that made up the Somali
Republic. Unlike Somaliland, which had declared its intention to secede from the rest of
the country, Puntland has the stated policy that it "does not believe in any form of
secession or break-up of the Somali nation" and that the "unity, integrity and
sovereignty of Somalia is inviolable". The majority of the Somali people support this
fundamental principle of unity of the Somali territories. The Bay Zone in the south of the
country has recently established another 'state' in the Bay and Bakol areas.
The role of the international community
The international community should try to put the Somali issue in its
proper historical perspective to understand the under-lying root causes of the Somali
crises. Somalia is now experiencing a process of re-birth, constructing a new nation from
scratch. This natural process will take time to crystallize and to become established. The
actions of the international community have so far been directed at stopping or slowing
down this evolutionary process by proposing unworkable political solutions to the
successive crises. Many efforts have been devoted to the application of the wrong
medicine, and very little to understanding the real problems. This is why a dozen
reconciliation conferences have failed in the last 8 years. The 1992
UN intervention also failed. Djibouti is now calling for another one very soon, but this
is not the answer.
The international community can only help if it will accept that the
Somali crises have to be solved by the Somalis themselves. An evolutionary process should
be left to take its natural course. A new Somalia has been taking shape for some years
now, but interference by some of the regional powers in the country’s internal civil
conflicts, together with the confused actions of the international community, are only
serving to perpetuate the civil conflict.
It should be stressed that Somali clan politics are treacherous and can
be extremely frustrating for those who do not understand the country’s political
structures and the way that the delicate balance of power is maintained.
Meanwhile, there is no shortage of humanitarian emergencies elsewhere
in the Horn of Africa. There are emergency situations in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Kenya. The
international community should focus on dealing with these and leave Somali politics
alone.
[Editorial] |