2024-08-31 23:45:06
Chaos has reigned for many years in Somalia. Since becoming an independent country more than 60 years ago, the Horn of Africa country has suffered from the death of many poor countries in the world. Years passed and he could not lift his head. He is hunting. International aid is essential for Somalia. Humanitarian, often not enough to reduce the needs of part of its 17 million inhabitants, and military, in abundance, to fight Islamist terrorism.
More than 22% of Somalia’s population has been forced to leave their homes, either as internally displaced persons or as refugees and asylum seekers abroad. The country’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, elected in 2022, faces an explosive cocktail: violence, the effects of climate change – drought and heavy rains -, sea robbery and regional fragmentation.
For more than 15 years, Somalia has suffered from terrorist attacks by Al-Shabab, a group associated with Al-Qaida, which continues to besiege the capital, Mogadishu, with repeated attacks and which strong in rural areas. When he took power, Mohamud declared “total war” against extremists. You have help. There are about 13,000 African Union troops in the country, who completed their mission this year. The United States, meanwhile, operates fighter jets, while an American private security company is training the Army’s elite troops, the Danab Brigade. Washington plans to install five military bases that will host Somali troops.
Turkey is another friend of Mogadishu. The Eurasian country has been operating for more than a decade in Somalia, where it has its largest military base abroad. Their support is not only military. He also participated in the reform of the country. Turkish officials manage the capital’s port and airport.
Great geostrategic value
Somalia has great geostrategic value. It is the African country with the most kilometers of coastline, more than 3,000. Those in the north are washed by the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, where a quarter of the world’s maritime trade passes. It is in these waters where the most serious acts of piracy have been committed in recent years, including the kidnapping of merchants. The International Maritime Organization (IMB, in its English language) has warned that attacks by privateers of the 21st century have been activated again this year.
Somali terrorism is a source of wealth. Foreign fishing boats have taken advantage of the state’s weakness to illegally fish and plunder Somali fishermen, putting thousands of local fishermen out of work. In addition, its water has been used as a dumping ground for toxic waste. The 2004 Tsunami washed containers with many pollutants to the ground, which not only affected the aquatic animals but also the health of the local population, as described in the documentary Somalia Toxic. Most of Somalia’s pirates are converted fishermen who claim to be “defenders of local waters”.
Separation of Somaliland
Most of the attacks have been focused on the front of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, with which the central government maintains a strained relationship, as it hopes to increase self-government. A problem compounded by that of another northern region, Somaliland, which functions for all intents and purposes as an independent country, although it is not recognized by the international community. This region was separated from the rest of Somalia after the 1991 overthrow of President Mohamed Siad Barre.
Ethiopia, a landlocked country, accepted Somaliland this year as an independent country, in exchange for the right to use one of its ports. The agreement, which Mogadishu has described as “outrageous”, threatens to further destabilize the Horn of Africa.
Related news
Another of the major challenges facing the Somali government is climate change. The forces in this corner of the world are tragic. A severe drought over the past four years has left many fields barren and killed a quarter of the country’s livestock. Nearly four million people suffer from acute food insecurity, according to the UN. He was hungry. Which the country suffered in 2011, the first of this century, killed 260,000 people, mostly children. The report Mothers who poisoned their children to survive the famine in Somalia, by Somali writer Fathi Mohamed Ahmed, describes the desperate situation of many of them today. Fathi is the editor-in-chief of Bilan, Somalia’s only all-women newspaper.
Those displaced by climate change are not returning to their places of origin because they have no food to live on. Among the Somalis who have managed to leave the country are those who have managed to reach Europe or the Persian Gulf. Many others are in refugee camps in neighboring countries.
#Somalia #violence #drought #separatism