Somalia: Information on Yahhar also spelled Yibir
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1991 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SOM8655 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Information on Yahhar also spelled Yibir, 1 May 1991, SOM8655, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac6660.html [accessed 25 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. |
According to Mohamed Abdi Mohamed (Mondes en Développement 1989, 68), the Yibir may have been the descendants of a Tzigane tribe who emigrated to the Somali coast. This author adds that Somalis of the Abgaal and Reer Shebeeli tribes were using names based on the word Yibir (Ibid.). Abdi Mohamed mentions that Somalis were afraid of members of the Yibir (or Yibro) (Ibid., 67). The Yibir are considered to be members of the Somali Jewish community (Ibid.). The Yibir are divided between the Madoobe Barsame Gaaljecel and Sooraante Gaaljecel clans or tribes (Ibid. 69).
In his book A Pastoral Democracy, I. M. Lewis makes a distinction between the Midgaan, the Tumaal, and the Yibir bondsmen of northern Somaliland "...who, though known collectively by the same name as that of the common ancestor of the Digil and Rahanwayn, are quite distinct from them" (1961, 14).
Further information on this subject is currently unavailable to the IRBDC in Ottawa.
Bibliography
Lewis, I.M., A Pastoral Democracy, Published for the International African Institute, London, 1961.
Mondes en Développement, Tome 17. no. 66. 1989. Mohamed, Abdi Mohamed, "Croyances Populaires et Religions Classiques en Somalie".
