NATIONAL MEDIA
28 October – Source: Goobjoog – 64 Words
A city cleaner was this morning killed in an IED blast at the vicinity of Taleh junction in Mogadishu. Eyewitnesses said the improvised explosive device (IED), which was supposedly hidden in garbage bags, went off killing the cleaner instantly. Several IED attacks have occurred in Taleh area in recent months. The Banadir regional administration and security agencies have not yet commented on the incident.
28 October – Source: Somali Affairs – 172 Words
Somalia police on Sunday morning briefly arrested five journalists in Mogadishu’s Hodan neighbourhood for covering a demonstration organized by public transport drivers, officials said, in what appeared to be a major media crackdown. Public transport drivers, including Bajaaj operators, took to the streets on the second day to protest what they called increased roadblocks and higher taxation. Among the journalists briefly detained include Ahmed Ali Barre of Universal TV, Ali Aden Mumin of Goobjoog media and Farhan Mohamed Hussien, Yonis Durraan Ali and Yahye Olad of Kulmiye radio. According to Burhaan Diini Farah, director of Kulmiye News Network, three journalists working for his station were arrested by the police, damaged their equipment and beat some of them. The Secretary-General of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) Abdalle Ahmed Mumin condemned the arbitrary arrests against journalists and called the arrest illegal and unconstitutional. “Police is not above the law and should respect the journalists for undertaking their noble work which is only to inform the public.” Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, SJS Secretary-General said.
27 October – Source: SONNA – 105 Words
The Minister of Internal Security, Mohamed Abu baker Eslo Dua’ali, on Sunday, inaugurated a quarterly conference to coordinate the activities of the Bureau of Immigration and Citizenship. Representatives from the offices of the Immigration and Citizenship Bureau in all regions of the country, officers at the headquarters of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, as well as relevant institutions, including the administration of the Banadir region and some government ministries, participated in the quarterly conference. The conference on the coordination of the activities and tasks in the Department of Immigration and Naturalization discussed how to enhance work and cooperation between the various branches of the department.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
27 October – Source: UNSOM – 267 Words
The United Nations envoy to Somalia today met with President Said Abdullahi Deni and members of his cabinet in Garowe, the capital of Puntland state, as part of his regular engagement activities with the leaders of Somalia’s Federal Member States. “Today’s visit provided another welcome opportunity for me to hear first-hand from Puntland’s leadership about the progress being made with its ambitious agenda,” said the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan. Mr. Swan congratulated Puntland’s leaders for the recent successful investment conference and the start of the Ethiopian Airlines flights to Garowe, noting that these developments were positive signals of economic revival in Puntland. President Deni and team also described their preparations for a new Puntland Development Plan and the work of the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC). “These are solid examples of the Puntland Government’s commitment to economic and social development, and to democratization, which we applaud,” said Mr. Swan.
Regarding national issues, the UN Special Representative encouraged all Somalis to work together toward achieving consensus on issues of critical importance, such as completion of the constitutional review, organization of national parliamentary elections, achievement of debt relief, and advancement of security gains against Al-Shabaab. He called for the resumption of cooperation between the Federal Government and all Federal Members States as a matter of urgency. “Puntlanders are rightly proud of the progress they have made in the past 21 years, since the establishment of their constitution, a first among Federal Member States,” Mr. Swan said. “I am confident that, under President Said Deni’s leadership, Puntland can play a constructive role in advancing national priorities.”
26 October – Source: The Star – 379 Words
Lamu police are yet to recover a G3 rifle loaded with 60 rounds of ammunition assigned to constable Hesbon Anunda who was murdered more than three weeks ago. The mutilated body of the officer was found 400 meters deep inside a forest in Lamu East after he disappeared. He had reportedly been on his was to his duty station at Tchundwa police post from Kizingitini police station around 5 am. His tough stance on drugs in the region is believed to have cost him his life. He was nicknamed Lone Ranger for his bravery. His colleagues have been searching in vain for the missing gun. Police now suspect the murderers might have tossed the rifle into the Indian Ocean. Lamu county commissioner Irungu Macharia has however expressed confidence that the gun wasn’t smuggled to Somalia. Speaking in Lamu on Thursday, Macharia said the search for the missing gun had been narrowed to all bushes and forests close to where the body of the slain officer was found. “We haven’t recovered the gun yet nor have we arrested anyone.
The officers are combing the areas thoroughly and that’s why it’s taking a bit of time but we know for sure the gun hasn’t been taken to Somalia. It’s here and we shall get it. We must get it,” Macharia said. He appealed to the community to help find the weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. “We are appealing to the community to produce the gun because we know it’s still among them. We don’t want it to end up in the wrong hands and be used to cause havoc. Whoever has it kindly return that gun,” Macharia said. Macharia said police following up on strong leads that could result in the arrest of the murderers. He said they were focusing on people the officer spoke with in his last hours of life. “We have very concrete leads after recovering his phone logs and we are interested in a few individuals who communicated with the officer hours to his death. We are confident that if all goes well, we shall make arrests very soon,” he said. One of the suspects, a renowned drug kingpin in Lamu East, is believed to have fled to Mombasa and is being pursued by police.
26 October – NTV Uganda – Video: 1:26
Defense State Minister Col (Rtd) Charles Engola has commended Ugandan troops in Somalia for their job in maintaining peace there. The Minister was at the head of a delegation of MPs including Doreen Amule, the Parliamentary committee Chairperson of the Defence & Internal Affairs on a familiarization tour of peacekeeping operations in Somalia.
25 October – Source: UN – 919 Words
Whereas long-standing restrictions on the importation of weapons have largely prevented their flow into the hands of Al-Shabaab — a group responsible for ongoing terror attacks across the Horn of Africa — those measures require updating to better reflect the reality on the ground, the head of the Security Council’s Somalia Sanctions Committee said today. Briefing the 15-member Council, Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve (Belgium), Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia, outlined that body’s work from 27 June to 25 October. Recalling that Committee members heard a briefing by the Deputy Director of Operations and Advocacy in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 3 October, he noted her conclusion that Somalia is on a positive trajectory with key achievements on the political, economic, humanitarian and security fronts. She noted, however, that the country remains vulnerable to climatic shocks and escalating conflict, while inconsistent funding continues to challenge the delivery of humanitarian assistance, he recalled. Describing as essential the humanitarian exemption to the Council’s freeze on assets — prescribed in resolution 2444 (2018) — he pointed out that humanitarian organizations have strengthened their systems for identifying and detecting risks of aid diversion.
Outlining a briefing on 15 October by the Panel of Experts on Somalia — mandated after the lifting of sanctions imposed on Eritrea, in resolution 2444 (2018) — he reported that the Panel’s Coordinator spotlighted the continuing threat that Al-Shabaab poses to Somalia and the broader region. Indeed, there is now confirmation that Al-Shabaab is manufacturing home-made explosives, expanding its revenue base, and was once again responsible for the highest number of attacks against civilians in the region. The Panel Coordinator, he added, encouraged the Member States to apply targeted sanctions to deter destructive behaviour in Somalia — including by arms traffickers and charcoal dealers, terrorism financiers and political spoilers. The Chair went on to warn that the ongoing stand-off between the Federal Government of Somalia and the federal member states has peace and security implications, explaining that the arms embargo imposed on Somalia has largely prevented entry into the country of heavier weapons that ultimately find their way into the hands of Al-Shabaab and other armed actors. The embargo — first imposed in 1992 — must be streamlined, simplified and updated to better reflect the current realities of the counter-insurgency in Somalia, he emphasized. He called for enhanced oversight of certain components and chemical precursors — including chemical explosives — that Al-Shabaab might use to construct improvised explosive devices.
Concerning the ban on Somalia’s import and export of charcoal, he said it is clear that Al-Shabaab no longer derives significant revenue from that trade. He recalled that the Committee heard from the Head of the Global Maritime Crime Programme, also on 15 October, who outlined efforts to disrupt the charcoal trade into and out of Somalia. That presentation focused on the complex environment in which terrorism and transnational organized crime exploit porous borders to finance their operations, he said, citing the strong links between Al-Shabaab and crime syndicates engaged in the smuggling of people, weapons, sugar, tobacco, bomb components and narcotics as well as precursor substances. Following that briefing, several delegates expressed concern that the Government of Somalia has failed to cooperate with the Panel, sounding the alarm over the implications of that inaction for regional peace and security……..
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Abdibasid, 19, says she stuck to Zeinab especially when they got to a detention centre in Kufra District in Libya and that was meant to protect her from being sexually violated. The two now have a three-month baby and are currently hosted at Gashora Transit Centre in Bugesera District in the Eastern Province. “I can’t find the words to describe Libya, it is a market where human beings are traded,” the young man says with rage, showing visible scars of torture he was exposed to after failing to pay the ransom.”
27 October – Source: New Times – 1248 Words
When Ismael Abdibasid left Somalia in March 2016, he was determined to reach Europe where he hoped to get a better life, despite having little knowledge of where exactly he would end up in Europe. Back at home, Abdibasid comes from a poor family that belongs to a minority Madhiban tribe. Because of the history of suffering of his family and his tribe, the then 16-year old was forced to leave. He remembers crossing a port with a group of other migrants before they were smuggled to Yemen. In Yemen, he met Yusuf Hussein Zeinab, she, too a Madhiban, and the two fell in love despite the situation they were going through. Together, they were smuggled back to Libya where they were told that they would be returned home. “But the story was different. We were asked to pay a ransom for us to be let go. I was personally asked to pay $10,000, but none of my family members has had that money in their lifetime,” he says. “Initially, I was smuggled through a port from Somalia to Yemen and Zeinab was also smuggled through the same route and we met at a place where smuggled people are kept at a coastal city in Yemen,” Abdibasid says. The couple, just like others, were then smuggled through a network of human trafficking from Yemen to Libya where they were promised they would be saved and be taken to their final destination, only to find themselves in a detention centre in Libya.
Abdibasid, 19, says she stuck to Zeinab especially when they got to a detention centre in Kufra District in Libya and that was meant to protect her from being sexually violated. The two now have a three-month baby and are currently hosted at Gashora Transit Centre in Bugesera District in the Eastern Province. “I can’t find the words to describe Libya, it is a market where human beings are traded,” the young man says with rage, showing visible scars of torture he was exposed to after failing to pay the ransom. Zeinab, 18, also clearly remembers hallowing events while living in Libya, but she refrains from revealing much about what happened to her. “Life in Libya is more than difficult, there is killing, there is violence against women and other kind of human violations,” she says struggling not to cry.
A review of the literature shows that historically, minority groups in Somalia have not been counted and their languages and cultures are neither accepted nor respected. They are reported to suffer daily violence and persecution. Additionally, minorities across the country experience denial and abuse including subjection to hate speech, limited access to justice and education, and exclusion from significant political participation and employment. The two say they come from that marginalized tribe and they were unable to tolerate that as human beings and had no other choice but to leave and go anywhere that they would fair treatment and opportunities. What they didn’t know is that they would end up in a detention centre. After a failed bid to reach their destination and three years in a detention centre, they were evacuated to Rwanda through an Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) initiated by the African Union (AU) and the United Nations for High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Fartun Qasim, 26-year-old, is another female asylum-seeker from Mogadishu, the Somalia capital. She left her country is 2016 after being threatened by Islamic organization, Al-Shabaab several times, and losing her baby in that process. “In Mogadishu, I had a small tea cafeteria and I used to have a number of local leaders who would come over for breakfast or lunch. Al-Shabaab started threatening me that I was associating with the government,” she reveals how she was forced to leave her country. Qasim’s last decision to flee the country was taken in September 2016 when she survived an attack of Al-Shabaab in which one of her babies was shot while she was breastfeeding her. She, too, thought she would finally join others who were fleeing, only to find herself under similar situations. “At some point, I lost consciousness for a couple of months and came back to normal only to find myself and others crossing Sudan to Kufra. This is where we were taken to a detention centre”. Qasim says she was asked to pay $8,000 to be released but she couldn’t afford and neither her family could. “My hands were tied and got electrified by cables after I failed to pay. They would send us to fetch water in the middle of the night. I saw violations that a human being cannot bear.”…… |
