Information on the conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 July 1989 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ETH1653 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Information on the conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia, 1 July 1989, ETH1653, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abaf30.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. |
The status of the Ogaden area, regarded by the Ethiopian government as being part of its eastern region, has been disputed by successive governments of Somalia since that country's independence in 1960. [Alan J. Day, ed., Border and Territorial Disputes, 2nd Edition (London: Longman Group UK Ltd., 1987), p. 126.] Although there was a minor military conflict between the two countries in 1964, it was the political disarray in Ethiopia in 1977 that provided the Somali government with a military opportunity to pursue its claims to the Ogaden ethnic Somalis. [Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 1989, Vol.1 (Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1989),
p. 526.] With Soviet and Cuban military support, the Ethiopian army drove the Somali forces out in 1978. [United States Committee for Refugees, Beyond the Headlines: Refugees in the Horn of Africa, 1988. p. 22.]
The Organization for African Unity (OAU) deliberated and concluded, in 1980, that Ethiopia had sovereignty over the Ogaden region. [Africa South of the Sahara 1986, (London: Europa Publications Ltd., 1985), p.839.] Opponents of the Somali government, namely the Democratic Front for the Salvation of Somalia (DFSS) and the Somali National Movement (SNM) both operate out of Ethiopia. From there DFSS had repeatedly attacked
military installations in Somalia. The SNM still engages in sporadic attacks on military targets and northern towns in Somalia. [ibid.]
Attached please find copies of the following documents:
1. Africa South of the Sahara 1986, (London: Europa Publications Ltd., 1985), pp.835-839 & pp.404-410.
2. Alan J. Day, ed., Border and Territorial Disputes, 2nd Edition (London: Longman Group UK Ltd., 1987), pp. 126-133.
3. Henry W. Degenhardt, ed., Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (London: Longman Group UK Ltd., 1988), pp. 323-325. & pp. 99-106.
4. C. Legum, ed., Africa Contemporary Record, (New York: Africana Publishing Company, 1988), pp.B300-B309.
5. David D. Laitin and Said S. Samatar, Somalia Nation in Search of a State, (Boulder: Westview Press, 1987), pp. 129-153.
6. Somalia: A Country Study, (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1982), pp.6-31.
