Mogadishu Journalists Deserve Assistance, Not Expulsion

EDITORIAL

This week, Somaliland’s Police Chief, Muhammad Saqadhi Dubbad, informed 23 journalists who fled the carnage in Mogadishu and who now reside in Hargeysa to leave the country within 24 hours. The police chief gave three reasons for the government’s decision: (a) the journalists engaged in activities that have endangered Somaliland’s security; (b) the journalists engaged in activities that could harm relations with neighboring countries, specifically Ethiopia; (c) the journalists have published writings harmful to Somaliland. These are serious charges indeed, but there are several problems here. One, the government has not provided any evidence. Two, if the journalists committed all those crimes why weren’t they tried and made to account for their alleged crimes instead of being expelled?

Since the government has not provided convincing evidence to back its case, we can only judge by what we know, and what we know is that the journalists had met with representatives of Amnesty International, and it is probably this meeting that set of f the government’s alarm.

The Somaliland Times has consistently advocated that Somaliland’s government be vigilant against security threats from those who want to destabilize the country. But based on available information, we think, in this case, the government has overreacted. Therefore, we request our government to reconsider its expulsion order on humanitarian grounds, and to allow the journalists to stay in Somaliland, the same way it has allowed so many other refugees.

Source: Somaliland Times

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