“We welcome the progress that has been made in Somaliland towards stability and democracy" British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett

By Steve Atkinson

Is British policy towards Somaliland slowly changing? The past month has seen a number of events in the UK bring the Somaliland question to the fore: the demonstration by Somaliland diaspora in London on 22 February in support of self-determination; the petition for independence handed to Prime Minister Blair and the questions raised in the House of Commons.

The opposition Liberal Democrat party has certainly been putting more pressure on Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett recently. In a recent series of questions by Michael Moore, the Party’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, the government were asked to explain why they did not recognise Somaliland, and what assessment the government had made of the state of democracy in Somaliland.

These questions basically highlight the dichotomy of British policy towards Somaliland.

On the one hand Foreign Secretary Beckett is able to say “we welcome the progress that has been made in Somaliland towards stability and democracy. We continue to support the development of democratic institutions in Somaliland”. On 25 January she had stated in Parliament “we readily acknowledge Somaliland’s achievements over the last decade and continue to support actively progress and stability in Somaliland”.

Contrast those comments with the replies to more specific questions on self-determination. “We do not recognise Somaliland as an independent state ….we hope that Somaliland will engage in early dialogue with the Transitional Federal Government and that a mutually acceptable solution for their future relationship can be agreed”.

All these statements have been made within the last six weeks.UK policy would appear to be that we support and admire democratic progress, but refuse to recognise the case for independence in Somaliland. Given the British government’s penchant for supporting developing democracies through armed intervention this doesn’t really make sense, except that they find themselves boxed in to UN Security Council decisions. In effect the British government has agreed to maintain the territorial integrity and unity of Somalia, and therefore support the efforts of the TFG, whilst also supporting the democratic process in Somaliland so obviously lacking in the rest of Somalia.

I posed the question as to whether British policy is changing. The answer is I think that with more awareness there is perhaps a greater willingness to re-examine policy. At the present time the government would be led by ‘African’ opinion; if the TFG and the Somaliland authorities reach agreement then the UK would probably go along with this. But it probably needs more active interest from the media to bring about a fundamental change in policy; the demonstration last month in London was impressive in terms of numbers, but was met by incomprehension by Londoners themselves.

The support of the Liberal Democrats, one of the major opposition parties in the UK, can only be of benefit to the cause of self-determination, and if more parliamentary pressure can be brought to bear then perhaps British Government policy can be changed. Who knows, Prime Minister Blair’s legacy could be an independent Somaliland as he looses faith in his Iraqi adventure.

Steve Atkinson is a freelance journalist working in the UK covering the Horn of Africa for various magazines and British newspapers and for this special occasion the Somaliland Times.

Source: Somaliland Times