April 20, 2016 | Morning Headlines
UN Envoy Welcomes Progress In Preparations For Elections in 2016
19 April – Source: UN News Centre – 824 Words
The Security Council heard today from the top United Nations official in Somalia that political progress is being made in the country, but that much remains to be done in a short period, including completing the electoral process for 2016 and boosting support to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM).
“The progress is real but reversible,” Michael Keating, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), told the 15-member body during an update on the situation in the country: “The State formation and electoral processes remain vulnerable spoilers. AMISOM needs financial and management support and cannot stay forever,” he added.
The Special Representative highlighted that this past week, Somali leaders from all Federal member states and interim regional administrations reached agreement on the electoral model to be used later this year: “This significant achievement paves the way for practical planning,” he said, noting that “much remains to be done in a very short period.”
Mr. Keating said that the electoral process envisaged for 2016 will be significantly different from 2012, as the electoral college will be “a hundred times larger” and there will be a “genuine choice” of candidates. Voting will take place not just in the capital, Mogadishu, but in each of the capitals or seats of government of the existing and emerging Federal states. A two-tier structure comprising federal and state-level representatives will implement the process.
In addition, Mr. Keating highlighted that 30 per cent of the seats in Parliament are being reserved for women, an “admirable commitment” that he said in practice will not be easy in a clan-based model, but could mark a “major milestone” in making women’s political empowerment and leadership a reality. He said that once the cabinet has formalized the National Leadership Forum decision, it will go to the Federal Parliament.
“We call upon it to expedite endorsement of the model to allow timely implementation,” Mr. Keating said. “I welcome the continued commitment by Somali leaders, in line with this Council’s expectations, that there will be no extension of constitutionally mandated term limits.”Calling the 2016 electoral model “literally unique, a once-off,” the Special Representative said it is a midway point between the election of 2012, when only 135 electors selected 275 Members of Parliament and 2020, when “all Somalis will have a say. Work is now under way to that end,” he stressed.
In addition, he said that the technical review of Somalia’s Provisional Federal Constitution has advanced, and that “politically contentious issues” are scheduled to be discussed at the next Leadership Forum meeting in May: “This activity amounts to a historic opportunity for all Somalis to contribute to shaping the political and legal foundations of their country,” Mr. Keating said.
“Some major issue may only be addressed after the electoral process. But already there has been significant progress. The rule of law and its centrepiece, the Federal constitution, will be the strongest guarantee of long-term stability and democracy in Somalia,” he added. Progress, however, is taking place “amid great insecurity,” the Special Representative stressed, another reason why progress is reversible.
Key Headlines
- UN Envoy Welcomes Progress In Preparations For Elections in 2016 (UN News Centre)
- Mother And Six Children Killed In Fire Blaze By Armed Armed Men Over Clan Fights In Marka (Goobjoog News)
- Death Toll Confusion After Overnight Mediterranean Sea Boat Capsize Leaves Hundreds Of Migrants Dead (Shabelle News)
- Puntland Parliament To Convene Following TPEC Lineup (Garowe Online)
- Three Children Injured In Blast In Galgaduud (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Bans Citizens From Traveling to Sudan After 200 Deaths (Bloomberg)
- Somalia Seeks Russia’s Help In Fighting Al-Shabaab Terrorists Strengthening Economy (International Business Times)
- Man To Plead Guilty In Fire At Grand Forks Somali Restaurant (The Star Tribune)
- ‘We’ll Make Our Country Great Again’: Project Shows True Face Of Somalis (The Guardian)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Mother And Six Children Killed In Fire Blaze By Armed Armed Men Over Clan Fights In Marka
19 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 329 Words
Six children and their mother died after their house was burnt down by armed people following days of clashes between members of two rival clans. The incidents happened on Monday night at a village in the outskirts of Marka town of Lower Shabelle region. The family members were identified as Khadija Mohamed Samow (the mother) and her children, Farhiya Sheikh Abdikadir Ga’al, Naima Sheikh Abdikadir Ga’al, Ahmed Abdikadir Ga’al, Mulki Abdikadir Ga’al, Muzamil Abdikadir Ga’al, Noor Abdi Osman.
Confirming the incident, Marka District commissioner, Hassan Omar Moalim said the seven died after unknown armed men from one of the clans in Lower Shabelle region descended on Jeebe, a village predominantly inhabited by members of their rival clan, and set fire to the house of this family. He said the mother tried to escape with her youngest child but unfortunately they were engulfed by the flame.
The inter clan skirmishes pitting two Somali clans took a nasty twist of burning houses of one another for the last one week as the government rushed to deploy soldiers to help restore calm in the troubled areas. Sources say the arrival of the corpses of brutally killed people in another raid, which was brought to Marka town for burial, has sparked emotions leading to mourners venting their anger on nearby villages occupied by members of the rival clan.
Marka town, which is the epicenter of the conflict pitting two Somali clans, has become a deserted town, as members of the rival clans move to new grounds to avoid being caught in retaliatory raids by marauding clan militia. The two warring clans have over the years been fighting for supremacy and administrative control of the district. The clashes led to the government deploying a contingent of security personnel to quell the clashes mid last year.
Death Toll Confusion After Overnight Mediterranean Sea Boat Capsize Leaves Hundreds Of Migrants Dead
19 April – Source: Shabelle News – 336 Words
Up to 500 migrants have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after the boat they were travelling in from Libya to Italy capsized overnight. However, official numbers of those who perished could not be confirmed, with conflicting accounts from Somalia’s government and the United Nation’s Refugee Agency.
Somalia’s President, Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker in a joint statement confirmed the death toll from the incident, which mostly involved migrants from Somalia, had risen to more than 400 people. However, since that statement was released, UNHCR has labelled the information as “inaccurate”, causing further confusion as to how many migrants actually drowned.
Some media reports also note that 200 migrants had died, but Awale Warsame, a migrant who managed to survive the incident, was quoted by the Irish Examiner as saying, “There were 500 passengers, mostly Somalis on the boat, but only 23 people survived.” Survivors, whose reported numbers vary from over 20 people to 41, included migrants from Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Egypt. They were moved on to a cargo ship after their boat capsized and were then in control of the Greek coastguard.
The migrants were travelling by boat in hopes of crossing into Europe illegally, which is said to be one of the reasons why it was so difficult to find the correct number of casualties. According to commentators, another reason for the disparity in numbers is because the boat had capsized at night and in the open sea, making it difficult for authorities to tally the final death toll.
The tragedy occurred on the eve of the one-year anniversary of another incident which took the lives of almost 800 migrants after their ship sunk between Libya and Lampedusa. Italy’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni commented on the connection and what it means for Europe, stating, “What is sure that we are again with a tragedy in the Mediterranean, exactly one year after the tragedy we had … in Libyan waters… This is another strong reason for Europe to commit itself not to build wars.”
Puntland Parliament To Convene Following TPEC Lineup
19 April – Source: Garowe Online – 144 Words
Lawmakers in Somalia’s Puntland Parliament are to convene to endorse Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC) on Saturday, Garowe Online reports. Parliament extraordinary session will focus on democratization programme, MP Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim told Puntland-based independent station, Radio Garowe on Tuesday.
Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and Parliament Speaker Ahmed Ali Hashi have jointly announced nominees for the nine-member electoral commission on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16 respectively. The parliamentary agenda also includes human trafficking policy in the shadow of Mediterranean tragedy that killed nearly several hundred Somali migrants according to Somali and Italian officials.
Three Children Injured In Blast In Galgaduud
19 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 148 Words
Three children have been injured after unexploded ordnance they were playing with went off in Miirjiilley village of Somalia’s central region Galgaduud on Tuesday, witness said. The device is suspected to have been left behind during civil war of some years back, which had claimed many lives.
“Children found an explosive device left over from the past wars in a village in Galgaduud region,” a resident of Miirjiilley told Goobjoog news. The children started playing with the object, oblivious of the fact that it was dangerous. “The device went off after the kids began to play and the blast caused injuries to three of them,” he said. The injured children were taken to hospital in Abduqwaad town. Their parents reached the hospital immediately after being alerted. Similar incidents have happened in the past. Earlier this year, three children lost their lives in a similar incident in Sanaag region.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Bans Citizens From Traveling to Sudan After 200 Deaths
19 April – Source: Bloomberg – 119 Words
Somalia has prohibited its citizens from traveling to Sudan, a popular passage for undocumented immigrants from the Horn of Africa nation headed for Italy, after the drowning of hundreds of Somali immigrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Two hundred Somalis died on Sunday when their boat capsized en route to Italy from Egypt, according to Somali Minister for Information Mohamed Abdi Hayir.
“The department of immigration has confirmed that most of the Somali citizens who perished in the Mediterranean Sea had gone through Sudan to reach Europe,” the head of Somalia’s immigration and naturalization department, Abdullahi Gafow Mohamud, told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Mogadishu. “No ordinary Somali is allowed to travel to Sudan effective today except on diplomatic missions.”
Somalia Seeks Russia’s Help In Fighting Al-Shabaab Terrorists, Strengthening Economy
19 April – Source: International Business Times – 420 Words
Somalia is asking Russia to help equip its armed forces to fight terrorism in the Horn of Africa nation, where Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab is waging a deadly insurgency against the Western-backed government, according to Sputnik news agency, which is owned and operated by the Russian government. Mogadishu is also seeking Moscow’s support in strengthening its flagging economy, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke reportedly said Tuesday at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“Support in peacekeeping operations is one of the possible aspects of strengthening our armed forces. It is highly important for us to strengthen our law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism. Therefore, we would like to request such support from you,” Sharmarke apparently said at the meeting in Moscow. “We expect closer Somalia-Russia cooperation.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Lavrov said Russia is ready to consider military cooperation to help Somalia battle terrorism in the hostile region: “I know that during your visit to Russia, you would like to talk in particular about equipping the Somali security forces with all that is necessary to fight terrorists,” he reportedly told Sharmarke in Moscow. “Such an approach is fully consistent with the interests of the international community, in line with the U.N. Security Council decisions and Russia will be ready to consider a request on the matter.”
Al-Shabaab, whose name means “the youth,” emerged in 2006 from the now-defunct Islamic Courts Union, which once commanded Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu. The Sunni extremist group launched its own insurgency on major Somali cities in 2009, taking control of Mogadishu and southern Somalia until it was pushed out by domestic and international forces around 2012.
Man To Plead Guilty In Fire At Grand Forks Somali Restaurant
19 April – Source: The Star Tribune – 131 Words
A Minnesota man says he will plead guilty to starting a fire at a Somali restaurant across the North Dakota border in Grand Forks. Twenty-five-year-old Matthew Gust of East Grand Forks is charged with use of a destructive device during a crime of violence and malicious use of an explosive device. He faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
Authorities say the Dec. 7 fire at the Juba Coffee House was started by a homemade explosive and caused an estimated $90,000 in damage. Vandals had earlier spray-painted what some have described as a Nazi-like symbol on the business, but investigators don’t know if that’s connected to the fire. Dozens of people of different faiths showed up for a candlelight ceremony outside the cafe a day after the fire.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Somali girls usually follow one of three routes: they shun education and get married young, they risk their lives trying to get to Europe, or waste time until their wedding day.”
‘We’ll Make Our Country Great Again’: Project Shows True Face Of Somalis
19 April – Source: The Guardian – 1106 Words
For many people it is easy to stereotype Somalis as agents of terrorism, annoying refugees, gun-wielding pirates or competing warlords. Not the peaceful, resilient people they really are, say the team behind Somali Faces– an online project highlighting the everyday stories of Somalis around the world.
Ever since the civil war broke out in 1991, millions of Somalis have sought refuge abroad. Some stayed in the region, others made their way to Europe and continue to do so. On Monday, up to 200 Somali refugees were reported to have drowned in a boat crossing the Mediterranean on the way to Greece.
The United Nations refugee agency said “hopes of greater stability” have led to waves of refugees returning to Somalia, but a further 1 million remain internally displaced, mostly in the south, which has been blighted by violence at the hands of Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab.
Somalis live to tell powerful stories – of loss but also of hope, say the duo behind the project, who have been sharing people’s stories in English and Somali but say they want to withhold their contributors’ names for now. Donia Jamal Adam is a human rights advocate and campaigner, and Mohammed Ibrahim Shire is an author and PhD student. Both are also amateur photographers.
They have two objectives: to reconstruct the global image of Somalis by challenging tired stereotypes, and to encourage fellow Somalis to rise above tribalism. Adam and Shire curated the project by visiting and talking to Somalis across the globe, from the residents of the autonomous republic of Somaliland to the diaspora, and found that “every Somali – toddler or a centenarian – has a story to tell”.
My biggest ambition is to make my country great again. I’ve seen pictures of how Somalia used to be before I was born, before the destruction. How could it have disappeared? I ask myself why I wasn’t born in the generation enjoying peace. Then I think that it can be rebuilt and it makes me smile. I want my generation to be the ones to make Somalia great again. God willing.