Somalia: Groups at risk when returning to Somalia, particularly members of the Darood Majerteen repatriating from Ethiopia
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 January 1999 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SOM30883.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Groups at risk when returning to Somalia, particularly members of the Darood Majerteen repatriating from Ethiopia, 1 January 1999, SOM30883.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abf350.html [accessed 4 June 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. |
According to a July 1998 report by the Danish Immigration Service:
[N]o clan in Somalia faces persecution by other clan members or authorities solely on the basis of his clan membership, so long as the person concerned lives in an area in which his clan is a "resident" clan, i.e. traditionally belongs in that area. ... This applies to the whole of North-East and North-West Somalia (Somaliland). There are no reports at the present time of clan-based persecution anywhere in these two regions.
With specific reference to the Darood Majerteen, the report cites a UNHCR representative as stating that peaceful relations existed between the Majerteen and Habr Gedir clans in North-East Somalia as evidenced by an October 1997 peace agreement and subsequent joint procession in the city of Galkayo (ibid.).
For additional information on conditions in various regions and on clans in Somalia please consult the July 1998 report of the Danish Immigration Service, based on research conducted in Somalia in the fall of 1997, attached to Response SML30927.E of 21 January 1999.
In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate a Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University, although unable to provide specific information on recent repatriations, stated that an important factor in assessing the risk to Somali refugees being repatriated would be the area to which they were returned (13 Jan. 1998).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate 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. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Danish Immigration Service. July 1998. Fact Finding Mission to Kenya and Somlia. [Internet]
Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University. 13 Jan. 1998. Telephone interview.
Additional Sources Consulted
Horn of Africa Bulletin [Upsala]. 1997-1998.
Indian Ocean Newsletter [Paris]. 1997-1998.
International Migration Review [New York]. 1997-1998.
Journal of Refugee Studies [Oxford]. 1997-1998.
News from Africa Watch. 1997-1998.
From Relief to Development in Somalia [Nairobi]. 1996-1998.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 1997. UNHCR's programme for the voluntary repatriation and reintegration of Somali refugees in 1997. Geneva: UNHCR
United States Committee on Refugees. 1998. Annual Report: Somalia. [Internet]
Resource Centre Amnesty International File on Ethiopia. 1997-1998.
Resource Centre Country File on Ethiopia. 1997-1998.
Electronic sources: IRB Databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD, World News Connection (WNC).
Unsuccesful attempts to contact an oral source.
