Djibouti: Information on the relationship between the Afars and the Migdans in Djibouti
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 January 1997 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | DJI25970.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Djibouti: Information on the relationship between the Afars and the Migdans in Djibouti, 1 January 1997, DJI25970.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac8664.html [accessed 29 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Specific information on the relationship between the Afars and the Midgans in Djibouti could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB. However, an historian at Savannah State College in Savannah, Georgia, specializing in Somalia, stated that the Midgans are a minority clan in Djibouti as in the rest of Somalia (9 Jan. 1997). They are a caste group and according to the hstorian, the rest of Somalis despise them because of their occupations (ibid.). He stated that the situation of the Midgans in Djibouti is not different from their situation in the rest of Somalia (ibid.) In Victims and Vulnerable Groups in Southern Somalia, Lee Cassanelli, the author, states that in the past, the Midgans could only marry among themselves because "other Somali clans considered them ritually polluted" (May 1995, 26). He further states that "because they [Midgan, Tomal or Yibir], have no natural clan allies in the wider society, and no collective voice in political circles, they can be attacked with impunity" (ibid.). For additional information on caste groups in Somalia, please see the attached documents.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Historian at Savannah State College, Savannah, Georgia. 9 January 1997. Telephone interview.
Documentation, Information and Research Branch (DIRB), Ottawa. May 1995. Occasional Paper. Victims and Vulnerable Groups in Southern Somalia.
Attachment
Documentation, Information and Research Branch (DIRB), Ottawa. May 1995. Occasional Paper. Victims and Vulnerable Groups in Southern Somalia, pp. 25-26.
