May 31, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Wabari District Worker Gunned Down In Mogadishu
31 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 78 Words
Assailants armed with handguns killed a Wabari district worker in Mogadishu and managed to escape from the scene. The victim was killed outside one of the mosques in the district. No arrests have been made so far by the police.
Wabari district commissioner, Hawa Ken, told Goobjoog News that they are conducting searches to arrest culprits behind the murder. No group has claimed responsibility for the murder although Al-Shabaab militants frequently target civil servants and local government workers in Mogadishu.
Key Headlines
- Wabari District Worker Gunned Down In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- US Plans To Deport Illegal Somali Immigrants – Envoy (Hiiraan Online)
- SNA And Al-Shabaab Battle Outside Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
- Somali Military Colonel Mohammad Kariye Arale Denies That He Was Arrested By Ethiopian Troops(Goobjoog News)
- Repatriation Of Refugees To Be Humane – Amina (The Star Kenya)
- Man Threatens Staff At Nauru Processing Office (Radio New Zealand)
- Securing The Seas (Splash247)
NATIONAL MEDIA
US Plans To Deport Illegal Somali Immigrants – Envoy
31 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 188 Words
The United States government is planning to send back several Somali immigrants, who entered the country illegally, back to their home country, a Somali official said Monday.The move is seen as an attempt to deter the influx of illegal immigrants arriving in the United States, which rarely expels illegal immigrants from war-torn countries back to their countries.Ahmed Isse Awad, Somalia’s Ambassador to Washington told Hiiraan Online that the new deportation operation by the immigration enforcement agency would affect Somali immigrants, mostly young men in US jails:“I don’t know their official number, but I have asked the US government to give me the chance to meet them.”
The development comes amid concerns by European countries that are struggling to cope with immigrants fleeing conflict and poverty in Middle East and Africa. EU countries have received the highest numbers of illegal migrants in recent years.According to immigration authorities, hundreds of illegal Somali immigrants are smuggled across the US-Mexico border every year, with many of them getting arrested at border checkpoints.Rights groups have called for European countries and the United States not to send illegal immigrants back to Somalia where the Al-Qaeda linked militants are waging a deadly guerrilla war across large parts of the country.
SNA And Al-Shabaab Battle Outside Mogadishu
31 May – Source: Shabelle News – 108 Words
Al-Shabaab has carried out an overnight raid on an army checkpoint manned by Somali National Army troops at Sinka Dheer area in the outskirts of Mogadishu. Gunfire was heard as dozens of armed Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the checkpoint manned by members of the Somali military in the village. SNA troops managed to push back the militants.
SNA commanders claimed victory over the attack, saying the government troops had inflicted heavy losses on the Al-Shabaab fighters. The Al Qaeda-affiliated militants, who want to topple Somalia’s Western-backed government, have lately carried out frequent attacks on military targets and civilian facilities like hotels and restaurants, mostly in the capital Mogadishu.
Somali Military Colonel Mohammad Kariye Arale Denies That He Was Arrested By Ethiopian Troops
31 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 150 Words
Colonel Mohammad Kariye Arale of Somali National Army has termed the news that he was detained by Ethiopian troops in Beledweyne “baseless”. On Monday several local news outlets published that the colonel was arrested and tortured by Ethiopian troops in Baladweyne.“I was not arrested by Ethiopians. Of course I am in Beldweyne and as I speak I am in the Somali military base not in Ethiopian base,” said the colonel
But Elbur district commissioner told reporters different version of story. Speaking to reporters Abdi Hassan Biya Qote said the colonel had been arrested by Ethiopian troops after he was allegedly involved in the killing of a Al-Shabaab defector. He did not specify the nature of killing or whether the man was agent of Ethiopian troops. Somali defense ministry has not commented on the development.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Repatriation Of Refugees To Be Humane – Amina
31 May – Source: The Star, Kenya – 169 Words
Somalia is willing to receive back her refugees from Kenya if the international community helps facilitate the exercise.Speaking after meeting with Foreign Affairs minister Amina Mohamed, Somali Foreign Affairs minister Abdisalam Omer said the federal government of Somalia will ensure the safe return of the refugees.Amina reiterated Kenya’s stand on the closure of Daadab refugee camp but said it will be carried out in a humane manner.
The international community and humanitarian organisations have pleaded with Kenya to reconsider the move.During the tripartite agreement, the leaders reviewed the challenges that have led to limited success in assisted repatriation of refugees since the signing of the Agreement in November 2013.Amina said Kenya had formed a task-force that will outline the modalities of the exercise.Both Ministers committed to work together, and reiterated the equal obligation of the international community in contributing to successful repatriation.Omer expressed appreciation to Kenya for hosting the Somali refugees for over two decades, and for giving them homes and investment opportunities.
Man Threatens Staff At Nauru Processing Office
31 May – Source: Radio New Zealand – 160 Words
Security has been beefed up at the Connect processing office for refugees and asylum seekers in Nauru after a Somali man allegedly threatened staff today.An employee of Broadspectrum, the company contracted to run the Nauru regional processing centre, Corey Menke, said the man was screaming at staff and made verbal threats.
He said the man, like many others, has been living in the community and went to the office to ask again for an update on the determination of his claim for refugee status.”He came in and had a chat with Connect people then he came out and was screaming but lucky there were security here, they stopped him. It’s how long they’ve been here because they’ve been released but still they haven’t heard anything from Australia,” said Mr Menke.Corey Menke, whose house is next door to the processing office, said the Nauru government needs to provide more certainty to the refugees and offer them permanent residency.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Somalia and the Horn of Africa have been perhaps the most problematic areas for maritime safety in recent years – piracy, smuggling, armed robbery, illegal fishing have all featured in these waters. The global response to the problem involved many nations from the US to China and, of course, African nations,”
Securing The Seas
29 May – Source: Splash247 – 403 Words
Maritime security is an issue nobody operating in today’s shipping world can ignore. The sheer range of issues that need to be thought about grows all the time – from the age old problems of cargo theft and piracy through to newer threats such as illicit transport of weapons of mass destruction and cargo manifest cyber-security. A number of recent books address the legion of problems shippers can encounter.
Michael McNicholas’s Maritime Security: An Introduction is a good place to start. Essentially a ‘how to’ guide to the field it covers both portside and shipboard security issues, the range of threats that currently exist; and what security policies, procedures, systems, and measures must be implemented to mitigate these threats. This is actually the second edition of McNicholas’s guide and now covers very contemporary problems such as illegal migration and the problems of people trafficking by seas, transnational crime and smuggling as well as the latest UN legal conventions and frameworks. McNicholas, whose day job is managing director of Phoenix Management Services in the US, believes that the best way to ameliorate threats is at the primary “choke points” – the load seaports and their ships.
National governments and multinational bodies have a major role to play in guaranteeing and enforcing maritime security. Paul Shemella’s Global Responses to Maritime
Violence: Cooperation and Collective Action looks at what governments can do, short of all-out war, to protect maritime security. As with McNicholas’s book, the range of issues is broad and growing annually; Shemella, a retired US Navy captain and now working with the Center for Civil-Military Relations at Naval Postgraduate School in California, looks closely at issues such as terrorism and illegal fishing as well as armed robbery at sea and drug smuggling. Shemella is a harsh realist believing that guaranteeing maritime safety is a “wicked problem” with no ultimate solution, but that governments and international agencies can better prepare their responses to threats in conjunction with port operators and shippers.
TOP TWEETS
@Aynte:Great news! “Doors open for foreign banks in #Somaliaafter half a century haitus”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/
@DalsanFM_SOM:#Somalia 60 years old becomes social media icon for attending final secondary school examshttp://www.radiodalsan.com/
@Abdifatah_Hsn:The longest coast in #Africa, the 2 rivers, the entire land being fertile, i wonder why do we’ve to suffer. God gave us everything #Somalia
@HassanIstiila;President @RT_Erdogan is coming to #Somalia again this week as to open the biggest #Ottoman embassy in the world
@EUNAVFOR:ESPS Tornado gets home safely after a busy deployment deterring piracy off the coast of #Somalia with#OpAtalanta
IMAGE OF THE DAY
The Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (DSRCC) for Somalia Hon. Lydia Wanyoto with Somalia’s Minister of Women and Human Rights, H.E Sahra Samatar.
Photo: AMISOM.