Somalia: A Nation Fragmented
by Wells Staley-Mays, with Kassim Abdinoor-Hassan, Mohamoud Osman Awad, Ahmed and Hassan Nur Sheik-Mohamud and Said Yusuf

Somalis now constitute one of the largest immigrant groups in Portland. Many have fled their war-torn country, the victims of clan warfare that was unleashed by a lethal combination of European colonialism, international oil interests, and U.S. arms sales. Somalia's estimated population is 7, 253,137. Population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine.

Somalia is the region, which occupies the "Horn of Africa." It is bordered by the Gulf of Aden and Djibouti to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east and south, Ethiopia to the north and northwest and Kenya to the southwest. It is the only nation in Africa made up of one major (85%) ethnic group, one language and one major religion --- Sunni Islam. Somalia has the dubious distinction of being the only nation in Africa which has been divided by colonial powers into five regions. When France withdrew, it gave independence to its region, known previously as French Somaliland, and created an artificial nation known by the international community as Djibouti. The British-occupied area (1882-1960) was divided into three regions. The northern region merged with the area to the east, known as Italian Somaliland, and became what we know today as Somalia. But Britain gave two huge land areas occupied exclusively by Somali people to two other African countries --- Ogaden to Ethiopia in 1948, and the Somali-populated northeast region of Kenya to Kenya. Somalia today has a flag with a five-pointed star representing the five regions.

The Somalis were divided geographically because of the colonial interests of Britain, France and Italy. The third largest oil reserves in the world lie under the northern part of Somalia. Somalis have never forgotten the amputation of the Ogaden region, and tried to regain it, unsuccessfully, in 1977. Ethiopia regained the Ogaden Region in 1978 with the assistance of Cuba and the USSR. Subsequent fighting in the Ogaden precipitated a flood of refugees into Somalia: the number of homeless in 1981 was estimated at close to 2 million. The United States gave both humanitarian and military aid and was in return granted use of the naval facilities at Berbera, previously a Soviet base.

A military coup had led to the dictatorship of Major General Muhammad Siad Barre in 1969. Barre capitalized on the politics of the Cold War and received economic and military aid from both the Soviet Union and the United States. He used this assistance to exploit clan alignments, which are the foundation blocks of Somali society, by pitting one clan against the other. This method defused the challenges for two decades, but eventually, visceral hatred for Barre became a rallying point for many dissatisfied clan groups. In 1970, Barre declared Somalia a socialist state, and in the following years most of the modern economy of the country was nationalized. In mid-1977, ethnic Somalis in the adjacent Ogaden region of Ethiopia initiated open warfare aimed at ending Ethiopian control of the area. The rebels were armed by Somalia, which also contributed troops to the effort.

Opposition to Barre's rule began to coalesce in 1981 after he chose members of his own Marehan clan for government positions while excluding members of the Mijertyn and Isaq clans. The U.S. armed the Barre dictatorship with $205 million in military aide during the 1980s. In 1990 the clans opposing Barre formed a united front to fight the war. Barre was forced to flee the capital in January 1991. His rule had been dictatorial, but for many Somalis was marked by a "benevolence" in the form of free health care and free education from kindergarten through graduate school. While the clans had been successful in coordinating their efforts to depose Barre, forming a coalition to govern the country proved more difficult. During the 23 months following Barre's overthrow about 50,000 people were killed in factional fighting, and an estimated 300,000 died of starvation, as it became impossible to distribute food in the war-ravaged nation.

On December 9, 1992, a contingent of U.S. Marines landed near Mogadishu, the vanguard of a UN peacekeeping force sent to restore order. International agencies soon resumed food distribution and other humanitarian aid, interrupted in 1993 by outbreaks of violence. Troops from the United States, which had withdrawn in March 1994 after 30 of its members were killed and 175 wounded, returned in February 1995 to cover the departure of the remaining UN peacekeeping force in March. Despite failing to restore peace, an estimated 300,000 lives had been saved from famine by the international relief effort.

The UN force targeted powerful clan leader Muhammed Farah Aidid, viewing him as the biggest threat to the establishment of a transitional government, but repeatedly failed to capture him. Aidid declared himself President of Somalia in June 1995, but was shot and killed in a street battle in 1996. He was succeeded as nominal president by his son Hussein Mohammed Farah, a U.S. citizen and former U.S. marine. Since 1996, there have been several unsuccessful efforts at cease-fires. The Somali infrastructure has collapsed. Currently, the United States is actively working to undermine the capabilities of the nation's armed forces by using military and economic force to oust the current military-backed regime.

Respect for civil and human rights is a moot topic, as factions jockey for control of strategic areas. All factions have indiscriminately detained, tortured, raped, and killed civilians. They have bombed hospitals, schools, and homes; destroyed water, communication and transportation infrastructures; and looted humanitarian relief supplies and medicines, exacerbating an already tragic humanitarian crisis. What judicial system still exists is an amalgam of Sharia (Islamic) law, local traditions, and pre-1991 law. Enforcement is rare.

Ethiopia presents itself to the world as a champion of democracy and human rights in Africa, but its abuses of the Ogaden Somalis' human rights include arbitrary imprisonment, extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and ill treatment. Since the British betrayed them, the Somali people in the Ogaden have been waging an armed struggle against successive Ethiopian regimes in order to achieve self-determination and peace. There is no doubt that the human rights situation will continue to deteriorate dramatically in the Ogaden unless the international community steps in to stop the inhuman policies of the Ethiopian government. Widespread exploitation and depletion of the forests for military purposes have devastated the poor and fragile ecological balance.

The Ogaden American Community Association of the USA was established in 2000. It is working in close collaboration with other experienced non-profit organizations and refugee communities to meet the specific cultural needs of the 45,000 Ogadan Somalis in the United States today.

A severe drought has hit the Horn of Africa region, most seriously in the Ogaden. It has almost totally wiped out the livestock, which are the principle food source for the entire region. The population of the area is on the verge of starvation. Portland's chapter of the Ethiopian-Somali Charity Association plans to assist in fund raising. Drilling equipment is needed to dig wells; first aid clinics are needed in rural areas; schools must be established to raise the literacy level of the inhabitants; and crops must be planted. Tax-deductible contributions may be made to the Ethiopian-Somali Charity Association, Inc., 803 Forest Avenue, Portland, Maine 04013. ESCA's phone number is 874-0433. ESCA is also looking for a computer, copier, fax machine and other office equipment.

Ahmed Sheik-Mohamud, r., and two other men from the Ogaden, recently opened Portland's S & A Community Market and restaurant, which also sells prayer rugs. They also started a chapter of the Ethiopina-Somali Charity Association. At left is Yusuf Ahmed.

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Back to Peace Talk Index, Summer, 2001