Somaliland Persists in having Its Independence Recognised

In 1991 the Somali State came to its end as such, even though the maps continued to show a single border. That year the coup d’état ended twenty years of military dictatorship under Mohamed Siad Barre, but also brought about the complete disintegration of the Horn of Africa, with consequent appearance of a complete series of new territories. The independence of British Somaliland came about in this context in 1991, followed in 1998 by Puntland (the central-north area that declared itself an autonomous state), Jubaland in the southern zone and the Region of Rahanweyn, and in 2006 by Galmudug, to the northeast of Mogadishu.

Since tis disintegration, something has changed in the concept of a “Somalian State”. No one has spoken of restoring Somalia, until someone opted to definitively abandon this enterprise for a more individual interest. Perhaps the major exponent of this new tendency is Somaliland, which has denied all interest in returning to form part of the Republic of Somalia and is waiting for international recognition of its independence.

Without a doubt, there have been successful plans for reunification since Mogadishu, where the Somalian Transition Government, already established and recognised as the representative government of Somalia, has been making many efforts to recover the borders of the old Republic of Somalia. Today, the Valley of the Juba, Puntland and Galmudug have recognised the unity or its joining of the Somali cause; however, the exception continues to the north where Somaliland, having achieved an enviable stability and refuses total reunification or annexation to the Republic of Somalia.

While Somaliland refuses this unity and maintains its independence, it will be impossible to consider either a reunification of the Somali people or past pansomalist projects that already seem to not have been heard. If the two Somalias remain separate, it will be difficult to attract the rest of the regions.