April 19, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Somalia Estimates 200-300 Citizens May Have Died In Migrant Drowning – Minister
18 April – Source: Reuters – 124 Words
Somalia’s government said on Monday between 200 and 300 Somalis may have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to cross illegally to Europe, based on information it has gathered in the past two days from the Somali diaspora and its embassy in Egypt.
“We have no fixed number but it is between 200 and 300 Somalis,” Somali Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir told Reuters by telephone when asked about possible Somali deaths in an incident first disclosed by the Italian president. “There is no clear number since they are not travelling legally.”
The minister said he understood a boat may have been carrying about 500 people, of which 200 to 300 were Somalis “and most of them had died”. He did not give a precise timing for the incident.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Estimates 200-300 Citizens May Have Died In Migrant Drowning – Minister (Reuters)
- Somali Leaders Condole With Families Over Boat Tragedy Call For Lasting Solution To Avert More Deaths (Goobjoog News)
- Puntland Dismisses Criticism By Rights’ Defender (Garowe Online)
- Commotion Ends Federal Parliament Meeting In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Mogadishu Mayor Calls For Vigilance As NISA Seizes Car Bomb (Shabelle News)
- Four Civilians Killed In Islamist Attack In Somalia: Police (Reuters)
- Child Malnutrition Soars In Northern Somalia Due To Severe Drought (Reuters)
- Kenya Should Rethink Its Somalia Strategy (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Leaders Condole With Families Over Boat Tragedy, Call For Lasting Solution To Avert More Deaths
18 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 339 Words
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud has condoled with the families and friends of those who perished in the Mediterranean Sea in a boat tragedy from Egypt to Greece. President Mohamud said in a statement that the tragic incident was a wakeup call to the country to come together and find lasting solutions to the perilous journey to Europe which has claimed many lives.
There are no confirmed reports of the casualties but various media reports indicate the boat was carrying over 400 people most of whom were Somalis. One of the survivors, Awaale Warsame Sandhol who spoke to Goobjoog News from the Greek island of Karpathos said the boat which capsized on the 12 of this month was carrying about 500 people. Sandhol said about 23 of his colleagues have been rescued while the rest have not been accounted for. Images appeared online from Sunday showing Greek coast guard pulling out bodies from the water.
Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF said in a tweet Monday ‘Mediterranean is a mass grave’ in response to the reports. In a similar development, Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo also condoled with the families and added his administration will organise for a conference to find ways of dealing with the migrant crisis.
Jubbaland President Ahmed Islam Madobe on his part noted such a tragedy can be stopped if Somali leaders find ways to create jobs for the youth who are now forced to leave the country in search for better opportunities in Europe: “Many Somalis die every year while crossing to Europe. We can only stem this perennial problem if we create jobs for our youth.”
A UN Development Programme, UNDP Human Development report in 2012 noted that upwards of 67% of youth in Somalia lack any form of employment. This is further compounded by the fact that 75% of the country’s population fall within the youth bracket of 15 35 years. The International Organisation for Migration said almost 6,000 refugees sailed from Libya to Italy last week, in what appears to be the beginning of a wave of 100,000.
Puntland Dismisses Criticism By Rights’ Defender
18 April – Source: Garowe Online – 237 Words
Puntland Government in northern Somalia has rejected criticism of counterterrorism policy, calling remarks by The Office for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights (OHRD) “hasty”, According to an emailed press statement by the Presidency, Puntland said it has set an example for the rest of the country in Human Rights protection, while citing its fight against all forms of terrorism.
On Sunday, top Human Rights Defender Mohamed Yusuf Ali who also heads OHRD criticized the government for disproportionate use of force during anti-terror raids statewide; something government says it is determined to ensure the region is safe from threats by terror gangs such as Al Shabaab. Presidential spokesman has also shrugged off human rights accusations by lawmakers in Somalia’s federal parliament, terming the allegations “disdainful”.
On children apprehended in counteroffensives against Al Shabaab, the government said they will be reintegrated back into normal life. Puntland has stepped up search operations throughout the region in pursuit of elements deemed ‘serious threat’ to stability according to intelligence sources. Puntland forces neutralized boatloads of Al Shabaab militants, killing scores and taking dozens of fighters prisoner in March.
In December, 2015, the top lawyer disclosed that they recorded a case of alleged abuse after a 12-year-old boy was injured at a refugee camp in deliberate violation of key Human Rights Act. Puntland Human Rights Office whose leader was picked in a parliamentary vote on Nov. 27, 2014 is tasked with offering advice to relevant authorities.
Commotion Ends Federal Parliament Meeting In Mogadishu
18 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 256 Words
Heated verbal exchanges and continuous commotions forced Somali Federal Parliament leadership to call off Monday’s parliament meeting. The lawmakers are divided on the proceedings of a crucial motion to postpone Middle Shebelle and Hiran state formation conference in Jowhar beyond 2016 elections.
About 40 lawmakers submitted a motion to Somali Federal Parliament calling on it to halt state formation conference in Jowhar. Another group within the Federal Parliament led by MP Dahir Amin Jesow challenged the motion. Dahir Amin Jesow called the motion as unconstitutional which led to heated exchanges with promotion MPs.
MP Godah criticized Parliament leadership for the failure of the meeting: “We were supposed to vote on whether or not to stop the motion but because of the chair we could not proceed. Jillane Ikar has a hidden agenda, we understand his motives and we know who influences him.” Other MPs insisted the motion was unconstitutional: “It’s unacceptable and misfortune to bring this motion before the house. This morning we [As] 15 members of federal Parliament submitted a motion to Parliament leadership because this motion breaches article 46 of the constitution clause 1 and 2” said Dahir Jesow. Both MPs Godah and Jesow are from Hiran region but are divided on how the formation process of the only remaining state that involves Middle Shebelle and Hiran regions.
Mogadishu Mayor Calls For Vigilance As NISA Seizes Car Bomb
18 April – Source: Shabelle News – 151 Words
The mayor of Mogadishu Yusuf Hussein Jimale has called on residents to be more vigilant as the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) seized a car full of explosives, small weapons and pistols during amidnight operation in Daynile district. Speaking at a security meeting in Mogadishu, Jimale said security forces will be on high alert and maintain their security operations aimed at preventing impending attacks in the city by Al Shabaab.
“Our security troops will search every house suspected to be a hideout for Al Shabaab elements planning attacks against public gatherings and government installations in Mogadishu,” said Mogadishu mayor. The mayor’s remarks come after NISA foiled at imminent car bomb and gun attack in Daynile district, north of Mogadishu on Sunday night. Despite being pushed out of the capital in 2011, the Al Qaeda-linked Al shabaab militants still pose a security threat in Mogadishu.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Four Civilians Killed In Islamist Attack In Somalia: Police
18 April – Source: Reuters – 172 Words
At least four civilians were killed in the Somali capital on Monday when Islamist militants opened fire on government officials in a car and then a car bomb exploded, police and a spokesman for Mogadishu’s mayor said. A spokesman for the Al Shabaab group claimed responsibility. He told Reuters that several members of the security forces, rather than civilians, had been killed.
The group’s accounts of attacks often differ markedly from official reports. It regularly launches assaults in the capital, seeking to topple the Western-backed government: “We shot dead one of the militants who killed four civilians with an explosion and shooting in Mogadishu,” police Major Nur Osman told Reuters, saying the security forces had prevented the car bomb doing more damage.
The mayor’s spokesman, Abdifatah Omar, said the first three civilians were killed when the militants attacked a government vehicle. The militants then fled their pursuers and their vehicle, packed with explosives, was detonated remotely, killing a fourth civilian, Omar said. Two militants escaped while one was shot dead, he said.
Child Malnutrition Soars In Northern Somalia Due To Severe Drought
18 April – Source: Reuters – 576 Words
Child malnutrition rates are soaring in northern Somalia, where the harshest drought in decades has ravaged crops and livestock, and aid workers fear hunger will worsen with further poor rains predicted.
Parts of the region are reeling from three years of failed rains which have left many families short of food, Save the Children’s area representative, Mukhtar Mohumed Hassan, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“People are saying this is the worst drought they have seen in decades,” he said via Skype. “They have not seen a drought on this scale for the last 30 or 40 years.” Malnutrition-related deaths have been reported in Awdal region, which borders Ethiopia, the United Nations said. Hospital admissions of children with life-threatening severe acute malnutrition almost doubled in two months, with 33 in March up from 18 in January in Borama Hospital, Hassan said.
Borama is the capital of Awdal region and the second largest city in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia: “Right now we are fearing starvation,” Save the Children quoted one mother in the hospital as saying. “We have no money to buy food.” Milk prices have doubled since 2015 to just over $1 per gallon, Hassan said.
Millions of people across the Horn of Africa have been hit by El Nino-related drought, with the largest numbers in neighbouring Ethiopia, where 10.2 million need emergency aid. Some 1.7 million people, 40 percent of the population of northern Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland and Somaliland regions, need emergency aid, the U.N. says.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“If the Kenyan Government wants to achieve its objective in Somalia, it must understand that the military option alone is not a solution. It is important for Kenya to show a greater interest in Somalia’s endeavours in building a state and its security apparatus.”
Kenya Should Rethink Its Somalia Strategy
18 April – Source: Daily Nation – 489 Words
When Kenya sent its troops to Somalia on 16 October, 2011, under Operation Linda Nchi, its biggest goal was to protect its territorial integrity from foreign aggression. The strategy indicated that the Kenya Defence Forces would move into Somalia in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militiamen.
More than four years down the line, Kenya has neither fully secured its territory from the aggression of Al-Shabaab nor reduced the threat it poses. Having liberated Kismayu, one of the strongholds of the terrorists, many questions still linger on the effectiveness of the Kenyan approach to Somalia.
Contrary to what Kenya wanted to achieve, this military mission has made it even more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The risk of Al-Shabaab retaliatory attacks has increased. Granted, there had been other attacks in Nairobi and the coast, but these have escalated since the military intervention.
Somalia has been the subject of foreign intervention before. In 1991, the US government went to Somalia under Operation Restore Hope to help the UN to establish a safe environment for humanitarian assistance to civilians suffering at the hands of warlords who had no qualms about attacking food convoys.
The operation aroused resentment among the Somali, who did not trust American involvement. In 2006, Ethiopia went to Somalia, ostensibly to save the Transitional National Government from the Islamic Courts Union. Both operations resulted in more lives being lost and did not achieve their objectives. Kenya should learn from these experiences.
If the Kenyan Government wants to achieve its objective in Somalia, it must understand that the military option alone is not a solution. It needs to develop a softer and more comprehensive approach. Firstly, it is important for Kenya to show a greater interest in Somalia’s endeavours in building a state and its security apparatus. Its engagement should, therefore, include diplomatic and development assistance to Somalia. It should strive to be viewed as being friendly to Somalia and its people in these difficult times.