Interview with Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Abdullahi Duale “No one is safe in Somalia when it comes to security, whereas Somaliland is a little bit different due to the functioning self-administration,” Adow said. “It’s more stable as opposed to Somalia, but doesn’t have the established security which can fully guarantee the safety and security of its people.”
“Many people believe the security situation in Somaliland is very fragile and can vanish at anytime unexpectedly, because Somaliland has no border security system and illegal weapons are brought in regularly,” he added. “Also, there are more and more A-Shabab sympathizers in Somaliland, so violent activities can happen, like the one in 2009, when a suicide bombing killed a lot of people in Hargeisa.”
The foreign minister said he is engaged in efforts to secure recognition from countries around the world to make Somaliland an official independent state.
“We established a nation state using a bottom-up approach,” he said. “It’s been characterized as one of the most successful, if not the successful nation-making processes that has taken place in Africa and elsewhere. It’s a pity that thus far we haven’t had the attention of the international community.”
“We are a poor nation with close to four million people, a budget of less than $40 million, 50,000 security forces including the military and coast guard and close to 7,000 civil servants,” Duale continued. “We’re operating a whole nation the size of England and Wales with 40 million dollars.”
“We’re appealing to America and the international community and to countries that promote democracy to assist Somaliland in building its infrastructure and capacity,” he said. “We have been threatened by terror for quite some time and been victims of terrorism numerous times, and we overcame this.”
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