Somaliland: Africa´s 56th country at the doorsteps

Somaliland: Africa´s 56th country at the doorsteps

By

Abdulazez Al-Motairi

"If South Sudan and Eritrea could gain sovereignty, so will Somaliland" Somaliland President Mohamed Siilaanyo said.

Somaliland President was officially invited to attend the 1st independence day of South Sudan, and Juba administration received the president with head of state reception and Somaliland flag was flying high in Juba. This is very courageous step that acknowledges the status of Somaliland, and towards better cooperation between Hargiesa, Somaliland and Juba, South Sudan in the future.

Hundreds of South Sudanese danced in the streets on Saturday for a joy and to mark their long-awaited independence, a hard-won separation from the north. There is a lot of uncertainty waiting this fractured region. The people of South Sudan lived under gun point from 1953, in which they started their armed struggle against their former compatriots in North Sudan. The regime in Khartoum used all means of discrimination against citizens in the south, as they were regarded "Second Class citizens".

On 9th July 2011 will always remain in the hearts of every South Sudanese because it is the day that defined their existence with defined territory. The oil deposits in South Sudan attracted the attention of the western countries, who later led the disintegration campaign of Southern Sudan from Khartoum.

Today, Somaliland is in very similar situation to that of South Sudan and asking for self-determination with all conditions of statehood fulfilled. Somaliland case could be much stronger than that of Juba because it was an independent for four days upon an agreement signed between Britain and Somaliland.

Somaliland case of independence neither violates the A.U's charter, nor UN's definition for statehood. Its borders are defined by the A.U's Article 4 that respects the borders inherited from the colonial powers. Somaliland has democratic and liberal system of governance. It hosted free and fair elections under independent observer, and opposition won. The peaceful and civilized power transfer in Somaliland after election results caught the world in surprise.

Somaliland permanent population and it not only controls its territory, but it also practices democracy and the rule of law through the country. Furthermore, Somaliland engages other nations bilaterally.

Somaliland was not the first country that unconditionally united another, and as the hasty union went from jubilant to disastrous abandoned that unity. Egypt and Syria, Senegal and Gambia, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, and Senegal and Mali all renounced their original commitment to unity and reverted to their colonial borders, and today Somaliland is not an exception.

On 26th June 1960, Somaliland was formally recognized as the Republic of Somaliland by UN and other 35 countries including Britain, Israel, Egypt and USA.

However, Somaliland united with Italia Somalia (Today's South Somalia) to bring all Somali speaking people in horn of Africa (Djibouti, parts of Ethiopia and Kenya). This unity created an illegal territorial expansion policy by regime in Mogadishu, which resulted instability in the region.