May 24, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali Prime Minister Calls for Humanitarian Aid As Clashes Ravage Beledweyne
24 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 261 Words
Somali Prime Minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke has called for immediate humanitarian aid following clan clashes and flooding in Beledweyne that has displaced hundreds of residents.
Sharmarke has urged international aid agencies and local traders at large to respond to the needs of those affected by the week-long clashes and floods that have claimed lives of over thirty people.“The situation in Beledweyne is now critical, and without sufficient response from Somali government and aid agencies, this could degenerate into a new, humanitarian crisis.”
According to the statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister, many families are in dire need of humanitarian assistance owing to lack of clean water and food. This situation has been brought about by clashes among rival clans and floods after the Shabelle river burst its banks.
Late last week, Omar Adan Ibrahim, the mayor of Beledweyne town, told Goobjoog News that 15 people succumbed to hunger following heavy floods and fighting in Howlwadag locality. This has cut off the area from any humanitarian support.“I can confirm to you that 15 people have died within the last 24 hours. Many of them could not access food or any medical supplies. Four people were further killed last night in fresh fighting.”
The two rival clans have severally clashed over control of boreholes and pasture in areas around the town, according to our correspondent in Baladweyne town,
Key Headlines
- Somali Prime Minister Calls for Humanitarian Aid As Clashes Ravage Beledweyne (Goobjoog News )
- Mogadishu And Istanbul Mayors Discuss Construction Of Mogadishu’s Wadnaha Street (SONNA)
- Jubaland Head Of State Appeals To Warring Sides Fighting In Beledweyne Hiiraan Region (Jowhar.com)
- Consultative Conference To Take Place In Garowe (Goobjoog News)
- Closing Dadaab Will Dishonour 2013 Deal On Refugees Kenya Told (The Star Kenya)
- Somaliland: 25 Years As An Unrecognised State (Al Jazeera News)
- INTERVIEW-Kenya Will Close World’s Biggest Refugee Camp This Year (Reuters)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Jubaland Head Of State Appeals To Warring Sides Fighting In Beledweyne, Hiiraan Region
23 May- Source: Jowhar.com – 149 Words
Jubaland President Ahmed Madobe has appealed to warring sides involved in ongoing clashes in Beledweyne to immediately stop the fighting, which has claimed the lives of dozens of people including civilians.Speaking in Kismayo, Ahmed Madobe called on the warring sides to stop the fighting and settle their differences without shedding any more blood. He urged the Somali Federal government and other regional states to immediately intervene in the worsening situation to save the lives of civilians.“It’s unfortunate that these clashes are happening at a time when the people of Somalia expect an emergence of a new federal state from the affected Hiiraan-Middle Shabelle region,” he said.He also said there was need to fasttrack the state formation conference in order to create a new administration for the two regions. The Hiiraan regional administration said they are kicking off a mediation conference today aimed at de-escalating the tension.
Mogadishu And Istanbul Mayors Discuss Construction Of Mogadishu’s Wadnaha Street
23 May- Source: SONNA- 96 Words
Governor of Somalia’s Benadir region, who is also the Mayor of the City of Mogadishu Yussuf Hussein Jimale, yesterday held held lengthy talks with his Istanbul counterpart. Jimale is in Turkey on an official visit. The two leaders discussed how to fast track the construction of Mogadishu’s Soddonka Street, as previously pledged by Turkey. The two sides also discussed cooperation between the two cities with Mogadishu asking for Turkish help in waste disposal. The latter has proved a huge challenge to the local administration. Turkey assured the Somali delegation of their continued support.
Consultative Conference To Take Place In Garowe
24 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 120 Words
Somalia’s northeastern regional state of Puntland is in preparation to host National Consultative Forum, which is scheduled take place early next month.The President of Puntland state, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said that Puntland was ready to host the meeting. Security in the Garowe city has been tightened and police have been conducting massive security swoops within the week. Gaas, who returned to Garowe town from Somalia’s capital city Mogadishu, said that Puntland will continue to play a vital role in efforts aimed at rebuilding Somalia and more importantly the realization of a credible and democratic General Elections later in the year. The move comes a day after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud issued a decree legalising the 2016 electoral option.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Closing Dadaab Will Dishonour 2013 Deal On Refugees, Kenya Told
24 May – Source: The Star, Kenya – 283 Words
Somalia has asked Kenya to respect the 2013 Tripartite Agreement on repatriation of refugees in its bid to shut down the Dadaab camp.Somalia ambassador to Kenya Hassan Gamal said modalities on how to return refugees are anchored in the document signed between his country, Kenya and the UN refugee agency.But Kenya maintains camps will be shut down and refugees moved without adherence to the agreement, citing its sluggish implementation. “That document was signed by the three parties in good faith. It is binding. Ours is to urge Kenya, which has been a host to the refugees for more than a decade, to honor it,” Gamal said. Kenya said since the signing of the agreement, which is set to expire in November this year, nothing much has yielded, with only 14,000 refugees returning home.In its bid to return the more than 350,000 refugees, Kenya has been making overtures with the semi-autonomous administration of Jubaland to receive the returnees.
Somaliland: 25 Years As An Unrecognised State
23 May – Source: Al Jazeera News – 343 Words
On May 18, 1991, Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia. Twenty-five years on, it still has not received legal recognition from the international community. “Even if they don’t recognise us, our independence is by virtue of our existence and by virtue of our liberty,” said Yussef Ali, who had taken his four young sons to join the crowds that lined Independence Avenue to watch the May 18 independence parade under the harsh sun.
Around 500,000 Somalilanders were expected to fill the streets of the capital, Hargeisa, for the big day. But despite the festivities and the resolve of its people, Somaliland is straining after a quarter of a century of non-statehood. Its economy is fragile, making this apparent against the odds success story vulnerable. “It’s absolutely unfair,” said Saad Ali Shire, the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, after a conference the preceding day titled, The Republic of Somaliland: The Case for Recognition.”We can’t get international credit or foreign investment to build the country and create jobs as we are not recognised.”
After the civil war at the end of the 1980s left much of Hargeisa in ruins and its population scattered – many in refugee camps in neighbouring Ethiopia – Somaliland rebuilt itself in “extraordinary isolation,” explained Matthew Bryden, a political analyst who has been involved in Somaliland since its formation. Somaliland has demonstrated that rarest of things: self-generated post-conflict reconstruction resulting in peace, democracy and good governance without international intervention. Since 2003, Somaliland has held a series of democratic elections resulting in orderly transfers of power, exhibiting a level of political maturity that has eluded many recognised states.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“We understand well our international obligations. We have unfortunately … not seen a shared responsibility in Somalia. We not only risk leaving Somalia behind, we risk forgetting Somalia all together.”
INTERVIEW-Kenya Will Close World’s Biggest Refugee Camp This Year
23 May – Source: Reuters – 388 Words
Kenya will close the world’s largest refugee camp this year because the facility housing Somalis displaced by decades of war poses an “existential threat”, Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto said on Monday.The United Nations and Western states have warned against forcibly repatriating the 350,000 or so Somalis who still live in the sprawling Dadaab camp in northeast Kenya, saying it would violate international obligations.
But Ruto, speaking at a U.N. humanitarian summit in Istanbul, said the international community had failed Somalia, still struggling to recover from the anarchy of the 1990s.”The refugee camp poses an existential security threat to Kenya,” he said, arguing attacks including the Westgate mall rampage in 2013 and the Garissa University massacre in 2015, which claimed hundreds of lives, were planned at Dadaab. Now those extremists pose a global risk, he told Reuters.
“There is radicalisation by extremist elements in the camp, especially of young people,” he said. “Their recruitment into terror networks, including Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda, is a threat to the world … The route to (Islamic State) is established.” Ruto, who was due to meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the Istanbul summit, expressed frustration that other states have lagged on pledges to rebuild Somalia. He said Kenya has spent $7 billion on Dadaab over the past quarter century.
TOP TWEETS
@AU_PSD:Women occupy a special position in #Somaliasociety & can detect early signs of radicalization in their communities.
@Fatumaabdulahi:In #Somalia, focus is often on who becomes next president instead of what caliber of people will be our lawmakers and country’s guardians.
@StateDept:Deputy Spokesperson @Toner_Mark comments on decree regarding #Somalia‘s electoral process
@HarunMaruf:#Somalia: Female police officers make statement in the graduation of 300 new recruits in Kismayo town. @DhanaanMedia
@UNDPSomalia:What do you know about UNDP Somalia ? See an overview of our presence in #Somaliahttp://www.so.undp.org/
@engyarisow:#Somalia: President Mohamud meets and encourages young Somali Defense Force who are training in Turkey
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Police graduates during a recent pass out parade in Kismayu.
Photo: @DhananMedia