August 25, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report

Somalia Border Wall Will Ward Off Terrorists, Says Mandera Governor Ali Roba

25 August – Source: Daily Nation – 215 Words

Mandera Governor Ali Roba says the planned construction of a wall between Kenya and Somalia will improve security in the county. Mr Roba says the wall along the porous border will ward off terrorists. “My administration supports the national government in this project because the wall will help stabilize Mandera by defining specific entry and exit points for better screening,” said Mr Roba who spoke at the weekend after meeting the county security team. He blamed insecurity in Mandera on past administrations which he accused of failing to define the border. “There are more than 300 households from Somalia on what should be No-Man’s land.

Better demarcation will reduce rate of crime,” said Mr Roba. He said the porosity of the border has aided suspects who easily disappear into Somalia after committing crime. “The wall will reduce crime rate in Mandera since it is difficult to pursue the criminals once they crossover to Somalia,” Mr Roba said. He said the wall will be necessary until Somali stabilises. “It can be demolished after that,” says Mr Roba. The ministry of Interior plans to construct a security wall along the border from Mandera to Kiunga in Lamu. However, the Somali administration is uncomfortable with the ‘separation barrier’, which it argues would further divide the larger Somali community.

Key Headlines

Somalia Border Wall Will Ward Off Terrorists Says Mandera Governor Ali Roba (Daily Nation)
Shariif Hassan Asks AMISOM To Double Their Efforts To Ensure His Administration Reaches All Corners Of Bay and Bakol (Wacaal Media)
Spurious Banknotes Paid To Puntland Government Employees (Garowe Online)
Acute Water Shortage Hits Hafun Locality (Goobjoog News)
Puntland Grand Consultation Conference To Kick Off On Tuesday (Villa Puntland)
Somaliland Re-buries Skeletons Uncovered From Mass Grave (Hiiraan Online)
Djibouti Denies Claims Of ‘Hidden Agenda’ In Somalia Operation (Xinhua)
St. Cloud Somalis Hope Bullying Won’t Return For New School Year (MPR News)
Family Believes Minnesota Teen Killed At School In Somalia For Being American (KMSP-TV/Minneapolis-St.Paul)
Islamabad’s Little Somalia (Herald)
The Wedding That Was A Feast For The Senses (Somali Current)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Shariif Hassan Asks AMISOM To Double Their Efforts To Ensure His Administration Reaches All Corners Of Bay and Bakol

25 August – Source: Wacaal Media – 114 Words

Head of the South West State of Somalia, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan has asked AMISOM to double their efforts to ensure his administration sets foot in all the corners of Bay and Bakol regions. Speaking in a meeting with top AMISOM officials in Baidoa yesterday, President Sharif also asked the AU forces to ensure they cleared Al-Shabaab militants from major roads linking towns within the region. The meeting comes after President Sharif concluded a week-long tour of areas recently liberated from Al-Shabaab such as Diinsoor, Qansahdhere, Idaale, Hudur and Waajid among others. The leader appealed to the AU force to immediately take aid to the said areas as locals grapple with years of neglect under militant rule.

Spurious Banknotes Paid To Puntland Government Employees

25 August – Source: Garowe Online – 180 Words

It has emerged that the Puntland Government in northern Somalia has paid new banknotes printed in a private plant which is set up in the Gulf of Aden port city of Bossaso to civil servants and security forces. Foreign currency exchanges, notably U.S dollars stood at 2, 200,000.00 on Tuesday morning, 30,000 Somali shilling difference from that of Monday. The payments in new Somali shillings came after Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali allegedly agreed to a plan by some businessmen to print banknotes as the government is grappling with long overdue salaries of employees and security forces. Nairobi-based expert who asked to remain anonymous told Garowe Online that the printing could risk blow to confidence of World Bank in the government. World Bank is weighing to help the northeastern state pay salaries of civil servants under a deal signed in late 2014 in the state capital of Garowe.

Acute Water Shortage Hits Hafun Locality

25 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 213 Words

Hafun area in Puntland is facing a severe water shortage following failure of the short rains, heightening fears of deepening humanitarian crisis in coming months. Authorities in Hafun locality in Karkar region say residents of that area are at risk of dehydration and are calling on the emergency services to come to the rescue of the people. Mohamed Isse Mohamud, who is a member of Hafun Youth Association told Goobjoog News that the area has been facing an acute water shortage due to delay or reduction of rainfall, where a drum of water reaches 3.5 US dollars.

“The biggest problem is lack of sustainable water wells, and if any, they are not enough,” he said. He added “Residents are streaming to villages to look for water since the wells that serve Hafun locality are no longer capable of supplying the area.” He urged the government of Somalia, aid organisations and all Somali people to stand up for the people of Hafun who are dying due to lack of water, which is the basic necessity for human survival. Water shortages are a chronic problem in Somalia, mostly affecting the rural population. The water shortage has forced many residents to walk for many kilometres in search of clean water to drink.

Puntland Grand Consultation Conference To Kick Off On Tuesday

25 August – Source: Villa Puntland – 88 Words

The long-waited Puntland Grand Consultation conference is scheduled to kick of on Tuesday Morning. Delegates from all Puntland regions have been pouring into Galkayo, for a week-long grand consultation conference which is set to commence in the town on early Tuesday morning. Hundreds of representatives including traditional leaders, selected members from the civil society and government officials are expected to attend the conference. Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas will be opening the conference, addressing the attendees with a speech that will be touching on matters relating to unity and justice.

Somaliland Re-buries Skeletons Uncovered From Mass Grave

24 August – Source: Hiiraan Online – 235 Words

Authorities in Somaliland have reburied dozens of skeletons of victims buried 30 years ago that were uncovered from a mass grave on the outskirts of Hargeisa on Monday. Thousands of residents have attended the mass reburial of the victims who were slain in the late 1980s by the regime of Siad Barre as the skeletons stuffed in cardboard boxes were buried in a burial ground. Water well diggers who were undertaking a water conservation campaign have discovered the skeletons that were crammed in a burial ground, prompting authorities to make proper burials in accordance with the Islamic law which instructs lonesome burials for each dead body.

“These victims were refugees fleeing mortar shelling when they were massacred with machine guns mounted on cars and anti aircraft missiles,” said Khadar Ahmed, the chairman of Somaliland War Crimes Investigation Commission. The commission which was created in 1997 has in the past stone marked numerous mass grave sites that might be subject to exhumation. “These 42 bodies we have here today were killed with prejudice – it’s a symbolic representation for what happened in our country.” said Hussein Ahmed Aideed, Somaliland’s Minister of Justice. Somaliland, a breakaway region in northern Somalia has declared a unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991; an era the horn of Africa nation’s central government was overthrown by warlords, however, no country has so far recognized it as an independent state.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Djibouti Denies Claims Of ‘Hidden Agenda’ In Somalia Operation

25 August – Source: Xinhua – 254 Words

Djibouti Armed Forces (DAF) have formally denied “false allegations” reported by some regional media regarding the ongoing operations in Somalia’s Hiiraan region which is under the control of Djibouti troops. Media reports had initially indicated that the Djiboutian commander for Hiiraan region had accused Ethiopia of “having a hidden agenda in Somalia.” “These false reports do not reflect Djibouti’s policy that has ensured a long tradition of good neighbourliness and cooperation with Ethiopia,” DAF Chief of General Staff General Zakaria Sheikh Ibrahim said in a statement. He said the allegations neither came from Djibouti’s defense ministry nor from the army leadership. “We wish to state that since the deployment of the Djiboutian forces to Somalia, especially in Hiiraan region, the two armies have cooperated well, sharing both joy and suffering of the Somali population,” he added.

He said the only objective being pursued by Djiboutian and Ethiopian forces is that of bringing Somalia back on the path of peace and stability. “No country, whether Djibouti or Somalia, has a hidden agenda or achieves its interests by destabilizing Somalia,” he said. “These defamatory allegations are only meant to sow mistrust between the forces of the two countries and scuttle the peace process in Somalia, especially in Sector 4 where we were preparing to establish a regional government for Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle regions,” Gen. Ibrahim said. Since 2011, Djibouti has been taking part in the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia with two contingents of 1,900 officers based in Hiiraan region in central Somalia.

St. Cloud Somalis Hope Bullying Won’t Return For New School Year

25 August – Source: MPR News – 865 Words

Naima Mohamed remembers watching in March as about 100 mostly Somali students, tired of feeling harassed over their race and religion, walked out of St. Cloud Technical High School. “It was just a lot of pent-up frustration,” said Mohamed, 14, who’ll be a sophomore at Tech High when school returns next week. “People kept how they felt inside and the things that they were going through … they wouldn’t go and talk to someone about it.” Those simmering tensions boiled over after a Snapchat photo began circulating of a Somali girl that labeled her derisively as a member of the terror group ISIS. About 20 percent of the students at Tech High are Somali. The photo triggered the walkout, spilling the problems into public view. Since then, the district has been scrambling to address the criticism. It’s added community and school liaison positions, more cultural awareness training for teachers and other moves designed to build closer ties between the school staff and the growing Somali student body.

Somali students haven’t always felt comfortable approaching staff with their problems, said Mohamed, a member of the Student Advocacy Group formed at Tech after the walkout. “There’s some staff members that aren’t willing to say, ‘Hey, that’s wrong, you shouldn’t say that or do that,'” she said. “I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere if we don’t get the staff members on board.” District officials say they heard the student concerns clearly. “Do I believe that there is a problem at Tech? Students were singing that loud and clear. This is how we feel. So, yes, we have a problem there and we need to address it,” said St. Cloud Area Schools Superintendent Willie Jett. “If that’s a student’s perception, that’s reality.” The district the past few months has created 11 new positions for communications support specialists. Ten of the 11 speak Somali, and they’ll serve in district schools, including Tech, to act as liaisons between the administration and students and their families.

Family Believes Minnesota Teen Killed At School In Somalia For Being American

25 August – Source: KMSP-TV/Minneapolis-St.Paul – 400 Words

A Minnesota teenager was killed and brutally tortured at a boarding school in Somalia — and his family believes he may have been targeted for being American. The diplomatic pressure may be building now that Sen. Amy Klobuchar is stepping in. Ammar Abdirahman was born in Minnesota and raised by his Somali immigrant parents who last December sent the 17-year-old to a school in Somalia to get away from Minnesota gangs and learn about his culture. But his mother told FOX 9 he may have been killed because he was too American — “He was smart, he was inquisitive, he was asking questions. And for that, they tortured and killed him,” she said. Family members provided graphic pictures that appear to show his badly beaten body with deep scars on his back that look like whip marks. They were told five people entered his room last May and beat him to death.

The boarding school was in Puntland, a relatively peaceful, independent state in Somalia. Officials there are acknowledging the killing, but won’t provide the remains. Most surprising, people in her own community here in Minnesota have told her to keep quiet. They’ve told her she might be arrested if she reported what happened to her son — “They try to destroy my life, my family, can’t say anything.” The family enlisted the help of an attorney, who contacted Klobuchar. She reached out to the state department which is now putting pressure not only on the regional government of Puntland, but also on the Somali federal government. “It’s sad to see the horror of what happened compounded by the lack of information, and the lack of feeling that there’s something that can be done about it,” attorney Daniel Kennedy said.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“Somalis living in Pakistan have limited rights mainly because Pakistan has not ratified the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. They are not eligible to take up permanent residence here; they cannot do any business or move around the country freely. Unless they are registered as refugees with UNHCR, their stay in Pakistan remains illegal and could invite immediate repatriation — though so far this has happened in rare cases, if at all.”

Islamabad’s Little Somalia

24 August – Source: Herald – 1,828 Words

Laughing and chattering teenagers walk past Somali Specialist, a nondescript hair salon in a nondescript neighbourhood in Islamabad. Their raucous cackle earns them a glaring look from an elderly man walking by. This is ‘Somalistan’ or ‘Somali Street’ in the federal capital’s G-10 sector. The street’s unofficial name has an exotic ring to it. In reality, it is like any other collection of mostly small two-storey houses in this lower middle-class area. Its only distinctive feature is the nationality of its residents — they are all from Somalia, a small country in the Horn of Africa, where a civil war has been going on since the late 1980s. Most of the inhabitants of ‘Somalistan’, are students who have come to Pakistan on valid study visas, and are enrolled in public and private educational institutions in Islamabad.

The main reason why they choose to live in this particular street is that it is close to a number of universities and colleges in the city. Many more living here are asylum seekers — mostly young people who have escaped the war back in Somalia and are awaiting relocation to some country in the West. ‘Somali Street’ is a purgatory for them, a transit lounge for further travel to a safe place. It is not home. After Afghans, Somalis form the largest refugee population in Pakistan. There are 411 registered Somali asylum seekers in Islamabad and Karachi, according to the data collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A few hundred more are said to be living in Lahore, though their exact number is hard to come by. The role of the Somali Students Union is central in providing these refugees temporary shelter and food, in the same small flats where the students themselves live as tenants.

“After sometime, the bride and her entourage walk out to get changed, and get back to the hall with the groom. They are all dressed up in white and march slowly and purposefully under a white sheet held up for them by the bridesmaids and groomsmen. The oral tradition continues with the dance revolving around the concept of village activities; there’s the churning of milk, sifting of maize and pounding of grains. The poet takes the bowl of milk, which she hands over to the groom. The groom and bride hold the bowl together and lovingly take sips from it, each helping the other.”

The Wedding That Was A Feast For The Senses

23 August – Source: Somali Current – 604 Words

When you are in Mogadishu and the television crew you are with asks whether you’d love to go to a wedding, while warning you that weddings here drag on, genders are separated and food takes ages before it’s served; you say a resounding yes, because you are here in search of stories such as these, and if anything, you’d love the whole nine yards Amira Hotel is a fitting venue for this wedding, with an African ambiance that draws you in, the minute you arrive. The shape of one of the buildings coupled with the bamboo stick exterior as well as the palm trees with ripe fruits hanging loops me in. We join the groups already milling around and strike conversation. I am asked a few minutes later if I’d like to eat and immediately whisked upstairs where I find plates already arranged and Somali ladies seated patiently.

The ladies are elaborately garbed in wedding attendance attire; a kaleidoscope of colorful abayas and hijabs, with lots of jewelry on -gold rings, bangles, necklaces and beautifully decorated hennaed hands. The mélange of strong perfume oils give out a heady mix of fragrances in the air. Uniformed waiters surface from the kitchen bearing jugs of fresh lemonade and watermelon juice, which they swiftly place on each of the tables. Hardly a minute goes by before they return with platters of rice and macaroni, which they serve the guests according to how much each desires to eat. The waiters return to the kitchen and now come out balancing meat platters consisting of grilled chicken and mutton, as well as different salads, which they leave at the center of each table.

TOP TWEETS

‏@SomaliaDirect: #Somalia Border Wall Will Ward Off Terrorists – Mandera Governor http://goo.gl/viQGg1

@UNSomalia: @Somalia111: #Somalia can’t lose more time on political crises. Calls on government to focus on priorities@VOANews http://bit.ly/1KJx2J0

@Amalina86: EA Disability Award Event. Disability is not inability. #Mogadishu #Somalia.

@UN_Women: Photography series tells the story of a young refugee girl from #Somalia: http://ow.ly/Rj12G via@womenintheworld

@AbdulBillowAli: Abdifatah Kalgacal, a blind journalist at the EA Disability Award Event tells the government not to ignore the Disabled. #Somalia.

@Cidilibaax: @UNSomalia @USAforSOMALIA printing currency will create inflation and will effect all the sector of business in #Puntland #Somalia

Follow the conversation →

IMAGE OF THE DAY

Somali boys learn martial arts skills at a Karate school in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

Photo: REUTERS/Feisal Omar