Somalia

“ Calls on Member States to assist Somalia, at the request of the TFG and with notification to the Secretary-General, to strengthen capacity in Somalia, including regional authorities, to bring to justice those who are using Somali territory to plan, facilitate, or undertake criminal acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, and stresses that any measures undertaken pursuant to this paragraph shall be consistent with applicable international human rights law ”

“ Determining that the situation in Somalia continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region,
Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,
1. Stresses the need for broad-based and representative institutions reached through an all-inclusive political process in Somalia, as envisaged in the Transitional Federal Charter, in order to consolidate stability, peace and reconciliation in the country and ensure that international assistance is as effective as possible ”

“ Reiterating its insistence that all States, in particular those of the region, should not interfere in the internal affairs of Somalia. Such interference only further destabilizes Somalia, contributes to a climate of fear and impacts adversely on human rights, and could jeopardize the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and unity of Somalia. ”

“ They risked their safety without hesitation and gave their lives to save a comrade. Because of their heroism and that of others on October 3d, America was able to complete its mission in Somalia without any further casualties, turn over its responsibilities to the United Nations, to their soldiers from other lands, and to come home knowing that our efforts saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and gave Somalia at least a chance to become a stable land. ”

“ Encourages the international community to provide, as part of the continuing support to Somalia, further support to peacebuilding, capacity-building and good governance efforts in areas of relative stability within Somalia, including but not limited to, Somaliland and Puntland ”

“ Land boundaries: 5,141 km total; Djibouti 459 km, Kenya 861 km, Somalia 1,600 km, Sudan 2,221 km
Coastline: 1,094km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 12 nm Disputes: southern half of the boundary with Somalia is a Provisional Administrative Line; possible claim by Somalia based on unification of ethnic Somalis; territorial dispute with Somalia over the Ogaden; separatist movement in Eritrea; antigovernment insurgencies in Tigray and other areas
Climate: tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation ”

“ FAX [254] (2) 537810 Flag description: light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the center; blue field influenced by the flag of the UN Government - note: although an interim government was created in 2000 other governing bodies continue to exist and control various cities and regions of the country, including Somaliland, Puntland, and traditional clan and faction strongholds
Economy Somalia Economy - overview: Somalia's economic fortunes are being driven by its deep political divisions. The northern area has declared its independence as "Somaliland" ”

“ Decides to renew the authorization of Member States of the African Union to maintain a mission in Somalia for a further period of six months, which shall be authorized to take all necessary measures as appropriate to carry out the mandate set out in paragraph 9 of resolution 1772 (2007) and underlines, in particular, that AMISOM is authorized to take all necessary measures as appropriate to provide security for key infrastructure and to contribute, as may be requested and within its capabilities, to the creation of the necessary security conditions for the provision of humanitarian assistance ”

“ Emphasizes that Somalia’s long-term security rests with the effective development by the Transitional Federal Government of the National Security Force and the Somali Police Force, in the framework of the Djibouti Agreement and in line with a national security strategy ”

“ Ethiopian forces invaded southern Somalia and routed Islamist Courts from Mogadishu in January 2007; "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities in Berbera and trade ties to landlocked Ethiopia; civil unrest in eastern Sudan has hampered efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin) : 66,980 (Sudan) ; 16,576 (Somalia) ”

“ Land boundaries: 2,263 km
WATER Limits of territorial waters (claimed) : 200 nm
Coastline: 3,025 km
PEOPLE Population: 6,124,000 (July 1982) , average annual growth rate 3.5%
Nationality: noun—Somali (s) ; adjective—Somali
Ethnic divisions: 85% Hamitic, rest mainly Bantu; 30,000 Arabs, 3,000 Europeans, 800 Asians
Religion: almost entirely Muslim
Language: Somali (written form instituted by government in 1972) ; Arabic, Italian, English
Literacy: 5-10%
Labor force: 965,000 (1968 est.) ; very few are skilled laborers ”

“ The land itself fights for the Somali; so that effective European control is limited to the coast, except where the French have pushed inland with the railway from Jibouti to the neighbourhood of Harrar. None the less, the occupation of the coast towns, Berbera, Bulhar and Zeila, is not entirely useless, since these are the ends of the caravan routes from Abyssinia and the interior. [45] Here the animals, skins, gums and other wild products of the country are exchanged for the rice of India, the dates of Arabia, and the cottons of Europe and America which form the sole dress of the native. ”

“ My uncle had warned me I should find all Somalis frightful liars, and to be prepared for it. Personally, I always like to assume that every man is a Washington until I have proved him to be an Ananias.
We saw—in the distance—numerous aoul, Soemmering’s Gazelle, and the exquisitely graceful koodoo, the most beautiful animal, to my thinking, that lives in Somaliland. The horns are magnificent, with the most artistic of curves. The females are hornless in this species also. ”

“ And this discontent was increased from year to year as the caravan-drivers returned from their long journeys to Aden and told of the greatest marvel ever heard of—a righteous government and a place where justice could not be bought, but belonged to every one—even the black skinned ignorant Somali. ”

“ You say that your father must join us here, and while agreeing with that, I placed myself for the space of a few seconds in the sandals of these Somali people. When they awake to-morrow, to find their captive gone, what questions will they ask themselves, what direction will they think he has taken? They know that it cannot be that which leads towards the desert, for their comrades are watching out there, and would certainly have laid hands upon him. ”

“ You can imagine that a Somali baria is rather of the nature of Barnum’s, minus the auctioneering and the shouting and bustle—countless people, ground all ploughed with the sturm und drang of the restless feet, and smell—-!
It is a wonderful thing that human beings can thrive in the condition of dirt and squalor in which these wandering Somalis live. They do, and some of them are very fine-looking men indeed. ”

“ There are four classes in Somaliland: (1) nomads who breed ponies, sheep, cattle and camels, live entirely on milk and meat, and follow the rains in search of grass; (2) settled Somali, comparatively few, living in or near the coasts; (3) outcast races, not organized in tribes but living scattered all over Somaliland; they are hunters, workers in iron and leather, and the chief collectors of gum and resin; (4) traders. The national dress is the “tobe,” a simple cotton sheet of two breadths sewn together, about 15 ft. ”

“ It was obvious that the escarpment above Las Khorai—the plateau around Jidali stretching far to the South which holds the best grazing grounds in Somaliland—was free of dervishes, and once more, after many years, accessible to the poor wretches of friendlies who had been driven forth like pariahs from their beloved haunts by that robber-tiger, Hassan Abdullah, the Mad Mullah. It is indeed a splendid country for the pastoralist, in spite of the burning days and the bitterly cold nights—nights during which the hardiest European, covered by three or four good blankets, finds it hard to keep warm. ”

“ Few other African lands present an equal degree of geographical unity, both as regards its main physical outlines and the homogeneous character of its unruly nomad populations. Taken as a whole, Somali Land constitutes a region of triangular shape, which is bounded on the north by the Gulf of Aden, on the east and south-east by the reefs and shores of the Indian Ocean as fur us the Tana estuary, and on the west, that is, landwards, by the little known and rarely visited mountain range which forms the outer escarpment of the inland plateaux from Mount Kenia to Wosho and the Ankober highlands. ”

“ We have made a brief survey of British Somaliland, and though much is not yet explored, yet it is not likely to differ greatly from the part which we have seen. There will be the same red dust and monotonous stony plain with its thorn bushes and dry stream-beds. In some parts, by way of variety, the thorn will grow so dense as to be impenetrable; in others it will disappear, and we shall find pure desert. Only a Somali or a camel could live and thrive in such a country. ”

“ The Somali is about as incapable of hard work as his "fat" camel, and the only time he may be seen digging is among the convict gangs who till, or used to till, the Government garden out at Dubar on the inland edge of the littoral plain, where the Berbera water supply bubbles out hot [173] from under the low maritime hills and trickles through ten miles of surface pipe-line to supply the "Fort," which is supposed to protect the British cantonment straggling some distance outside Berbera town. ”

“ They desire his settling amongst them, appreciate the benefits of commerce and civilisation, and are not suspicious, like the plundering pastorals, of every one coming with evil intentions towards them. The Somali, about as bad a lot as any amongst the rovers, will not admit a stranger into their country, unless accompanied by one of their tribe, who becomes answerable for the traveller's actions, and even with this passport he is watched with the eyes of Argus. ”

“ The Somali have been chiefly known to us since the time of our taking occupation of Aden, whither many of them resort with their wives and families to carry on trade, or do the more menial services of porterage and donkey-driving. They are at once easily recognised by the overland traveller by their singular appearance and boisterous manner, as well as by their cheating and lying propensities, for which they are peculiarly notorious ”

“ The geography of the country is all in favour of the native raider and against the civilized troops which attempt to catch him. In the dry season, when the Somali is for a time a fixture in the neighbourhood of the wells, it is almost impossible to move a considerable force up country, owing to the want of food and water for men and animals on the march. When the rains come, the whole country is open for the game of hide-and-seek, and in this the white man is no match for the quick-moving native, who is troubled by no problem of transport and is a nomad born and bred. ”

“ The East African Protectorate possesses not only enormous coast-lands of great value, but noble plateaux where the air is as cool as an English spring. But 210 we already spend on East Africa—and upon the needs of its expensive white settlers—more than the whole revenue of Uganda; and yet the promise is not so bright. Northern Somaliland is a desert of rocks and thorn bushes peopled by rifle-armed fanatics, on which we spend nearly half as much as the whole annual grant-in-aid of Uganda. ”

“ The Somali in his own country is conservative. He has little time for men not of his own race, excepting perhaps the Arab Mullahs, a few of whom wander amongst his people teaching the great "Mahomedan truths." He is never internally at rest. His tribe is divided into sections, sub-sections and clans, and the clans are for ever disagreeing amongst themselves. The sub-sections then interfere, and it may so happen that quarrels extend to the sections. ”

“ The winter months are almost rainless, and the smallest annual fall is on the coast.
The peculiarities of the plateau and the seasonal rainfall have been largely responsible for the shaping of the Somali. He is essentially a nomad; all his property is moveable and consists of flocks and herds and camels. It is true that there are remains of stone buildings, and deep wells in the rock, especially further inland; but these are not the work of the present-day Somali; his house is as easily moved as his cattle. ”

“ The future of the Somali peoples living in the territories bordering on Ethiopia under the rule of the three powers has been the object of speculation in some foreign newspapers lately. While some appear to have grasped the problems that have to be dealt with in the future, they often make it appear as if the only solution lies in the permanent division of these territories which is undoubtedly detrimental to all concerned in this region. ”

“ Besides these three main gathering places are many camps and "shambas" [8] scattered everywhere; and the back country counts millions of raw jungle savages, only too glad to drift in occasionally for a look at the metropolis.
At first the newcomer is absolutely bewildered by the variety of these peoples; but after a little he learns to differentiate. The Somalis are perhaps the first recognizable, with their finely chiselled, intelligent, delicate brown features, their slender forms, and their strikingly picturesque costumes of turbans, flowing robes, and embroidered sleeveless jackets. ”