March 16, 2018 | Morning Headlines
UAE To Train Somaliland Forces Under Military Base Deal – Somaliland President
15 March – Source: Reuter – 466 Words
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will train Somaliland security forces as part of a deal to establish a military base in the semi-autonomous region, Somaliland’s president said on Thursday. UAE government officials could not immediately be reached for comment – but the UAE has committed to invest hundreds of million dollars in recent years in the territory on a strategically important stretch of coastline on the Gulf of Aden.
The UAE began construction last year of a base on a site at the airport of the Somaliland port city Berbera, and will be allowed to maintain a presence for 30 years. Berbera is less than 300 km (190 miles) south of war-torn Yemen, where UAE troops are fighting rebels as part of a Saudi-backed coalition. President Muse Bihi Abdi said the UAE would train police and military in Somaliland, which wants independence from war-torn Somalia but is not recognised internationally.
He said he expected the agreement to be finalised within two months. “They have the resources and the knowledge,” Abdi told Reuters in an interview in Abu Dhabi. UAE has become more assertive in its foreign policy in recent years. The UAE Armed Forces have been fighting in the Yemen conflict since 2015 and in the past deployed in international operations including Kosovo and Afghanistan. Abdi said the military base, which he expects will be completed this year, will guarantee economic development and security for Somaliland and act as a deterrent to extremist groups in the region. Somaliland’s Foreign Minister, Saad Ali Shire, who was present during the interview, declined to disclose how many UAE soldiers would be stationed at the base.
Key Headlines
- UAE To Train Somaliland Forces Under Military Base Deal – Somaliland President (Reuters)
- Senate House Gives A Nod The Resolution Banning DP World From Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
- President Farmaajo Sacks 18 Generals In Fresh Military Reforms (Radio Dalsan)
- Somalia Passes Law Banning UAE Port Emirates Continues Work (Middle East Monitor)
- Somalia Call On Basketball Family To Come Together (FIBAbasketball)
- Rethinking Humanitarian Aid In Somalia: Could New Kismayo Be A Model For Future Resettlements? (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Senate House Gives A Nod The Resolution Banning DP World From Somalia
15 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 180 Words
Somali Senate House on Thursday has followed suit of Lower House members to ban DP World Company from Somalia. The senators have been debating on a resolution declaring UAE’s port operator as a threat to Somalia’s sovereignty for last two days.
36 senators have participated in two consecutive rounds of voting which aimed at amending and approving a resolution issued by the members of Lower House three days ago. During the first round of the voting, the members ruled out any alteration of the resolution with 24 voting for the as eleven others sought to amend and one sought to it abstain.
In the second phase of the voting, 28 members out of the 38 present voted for the resolution to be submitted to the president. The resolution which was passed by the members of Lower House on Monday bans DP World from Somalia, declaring the company being a threat to the union of the Somalia. The bill will now move to Villa Somalia for signature before its implemented by the executive section of the government led by Premier Khayre.
President Farmaajo Sacks 18 Generals In Fresh Military Reforms
15 March – Source: Radio Dalsan – 162 Words
Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has fired 18 Military Generals in a move to introduce reforms in the Somalia National Army , Radio Dalsan has learnt. A military source close to Villa Somalia confirmed to Radio Dalsan that out of the 22 existing SNA units only 4 Generals have been spared from the sack. Farmaajo intends to inject fresh blood in to the military ranks as part of the reforms.
According to the source the sacked Generals will be replaced by youthful junior military officers. Farmaajo has been working few days a week at the Ministry of Defense to monitor the activities of the Ministry, and the ongoing reforms of armed forces.
The Commander In Chief is said to be spending entire days at the Defence Ministry. Farmaajo according to the source has been receiving complaints regarding delayed payments of the soldiers and need for reforms in the Military. In his campaign manifesto Farmaajo had pledged to ensure timely payment of SNA soldiers.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Passes Law Banning UAE Port, Emirates Continues Work
15 March – Source: Middle East Monitor – 272 Words
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is going ahead with setting up a port in Somaliland in spite of the ongoing dispute over the deal between Somalia and the breakaway state, Garowe Online reported today. The UAE port operator DP World is building a controversial $422 million regeneration project in Somaliland which was agreed in a tripartite contract with Ethiopia. In a move to disrupt the UAE’s port project, 168 lawmakers passed a law in a bid to outlaw the deal which is to planned at the Port of Berbera.
Today, the law was approved by Somalia’s Upper House of Parliament, banning DP World from Somalia.Last week Somalia had disputed that the deal was “null and void” on the grounds that Somalia had not given consent on the deal. The federal government of Somalia claims that it undermines its sovereignty and constitution. But Somaliland is willing to go forward with the deal. The latest rift between UAE’s DP World and Somalia may impact broader political stances.
Earlier this week, Somalia complained to the Arab League over the controversial deal, and Saudi Arabia as a member has since stepped forward to offer mediation. DP World’s Berbera port project would create a free zone which would be a “gateway for trade to the region and the whole of Africa”, Dr Saad Al Shire, republic of Somaliland minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said. The deal would “generate jobs” and “encourage small and medium-sized companies in the area to locate their operations in an environment conducive to trade”, Al Shire continued. The Berbera port project is modelled on the UAE’s Jebel Ali Free Zone.
Somalia Call On Basketball Family To Come Together
15 March – Source: FIBAbasketball – 170 Words
Somali Basketball Federation (SBF) last month held its annual General Assembly in the capital city of Mogadishu, and it approved a number of measures aiming to re-establish its functions. n the presence of local clubs, referees, coaching committees and basketball shareholders, SBF Chairman Mohamed Adani Abdulahi reaffirmed the need of bringing the Somali Basketball family together and announced that the country’s Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre accepted to be an honorable member of the Somalia Basketball Federation.
Nevertheless, one of the General Assembly highlights was the restructuring of the SBF Executive Committee, which gives the SBF Chairman powers to appoint the institution’s Assistant secretaries general and treasure under its New Article 32. According to a Press Release, the document was approved by a majority of 13 members against one.
The General Assembly also announced it plans to organize Coaching Level 1 courses while it kept a four-year term for the Federation chairmanship mandate. The annual SBF General Assembly approved its meeting for February 25, 2019, in the capital city of Mogadishu.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“All of sudden the burden of the choices they had to make and the trade-offs are visible in their eyes and the light of hope, empowered and at home fades into thin air. One after another they describe their impossible situation of being between “rock and a hard place”, on one hand they were given a lifetime opportunity to own their own homes and not feel refugees or displaced anymore and on the other hand, they had to move in to their new homes without essential services.”
Rethinking Humanitarian Aid In Somalia: Could New Kismayo Be A Model For Future Resettlements?
15 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 2457 Words
Somalia is home to ever increasing number of internally displaced people ((IDP) and returning refugees from Kenya, Yemen and Ethiopia. Currently approximately two million (IDPs) and over 250,000 (returnees) live in the country, of which over 70% live in Banadir region and other Southern states of the country (Kismayo, Baidoa, etc.). IDPs in Somalia live in severe poverty and depend on humanitarian aid for basic services and many returnees are joining the IDPs, especially in Kismayo.
In most of Somalia’s major cities one will find clusters of IDP camps with famous names such as Dalxiiska, Washington, Horseed …etc., which are overcrowded and lack decent shelter, toilets, safe water provision, health services, and education among other services. Kismayo town already hosts over 80,000 IDPs and is receiving more than 70% of Dadaab returnees. Jubbaland state is a new state with limited resources, infrastructure and institutional capacity to provide essential services to current residents including IDPs let alone to cope with the needs of the influx of returnees.
Thus, consort efforts are needed to better resettle and support both IDPs and returnees in Kismayo in order to avoid high scale human suffering due to communal violence, disease outbreaks, famine, and the likes. Efforts towards this end do exist and are ongoing as evident by many high level meeting held in the last few years (e.g.Tripartite Agreement with Kenya, Somalia and UNHCR, Global Initiative on Somali Refugees in Geneva; the Addis Ababa Commitment by the five countries in the region hosting Somali Refugees; Partnership Forum held in Mogadishu on July 2015; the 2016 GA meeting in September’s Commitment to Refugee Response; IGAD meetings in Mogadishu, Entebbe, Nairobi for declaration on durable solutions for Somali…) and platforms, working groups and commission (e.g. NCRI, CRRF, etc.) established in the last five years.
Furthermore, Jubbaland state government and aid partners’ collaboration has resulted in the pioneering of a new permanent resettlement in Kismayo, where Jubbaland government located a land in the outskirt of Kismayo (New Kismayo) to be built for small percent of Refugees, IDP and poor host community. Almost a year ago, when I heard about the new Kismayo settlements I was very sceptical and was worried it will become a new Dadaab in Kismayo.
I was assured by government bodies and partners alike that, since the residents were going to be a mixed of all of Kismayo population (IDPs, Returnees and host community) the settlement would not be another Dadaab. As I learned more about the settlement plans and the fact that they were designed to be self-sufficient villages with basic services (e.g. water, police stations, markets, schools, health facilities, etc.) I bought the idea and believed it had the potential to greatly improve people’s lives.