Djibouti: Situation of members of the Madhiban caste, including treatment by society and authorities; state protection and services (2003-October 2013)

1. Situation of the Madhiban Caste in Djibouti

Information on the Madhiban people in Djibouti was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

A Minority Rights Group International (MRG) report from 2010 on minorities in Somalia indicates that the Madhiban [also spelled: Madhibaan, Madiban, Mahdiban, Madibhan; also known as Gaboye, Gabooye, Gabooyo, Midgan, Midgaan, and Musse Deriyo] are an occupational group, "a subordinate, non-pastoralist" group that "traditionally provided services to pastoralists in a segregated relationship," scattered throughout Somalia, Ethiopia, and Djibouti (MRG 2010, 8). Similarly, a UN High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) press release quoted a representative of an anti-slavery organization, Asha A. Samad, as noting that the Somali minority Madhiban or Midgan caste can also be found in predominantly Somali areas of Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya (12 Aug. 2003). Sources noted that the Somali people also live in Djibouti (Madhibaan.org 5 Jan. 2005; Danish Demining Group and Small Arms Survey [2009], 9).

In a statement to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Asha A. Samad, who was then presented as a professor at the City University of New York, noted that

[h]alf or more of the population of the adjacent Djibouti - the former French Somaliland - is ethnic Somali. In all of these areas of Somali population, as in Somalia, Puntland, and Somaliland, Midgan-Madhiban and other outcaste groups are the lowest rank of the society's stratification. (Samad Aug. 2002)

Similarly, the MRG report provides the following information regarding the treatment of Somali minority castes:

the same majority/minority divisions and accompanying social attitudes [found in Somalia] are found in long-established Somali pastoralist communities in neighbouring countries - Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. (MRG 2010, 33 note 20)

Without providing details, the US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 notes that "[d]iscrimination based on ethnicity and clan affiliation remained a factor in business and politics" in Djibouti (US 19 Apr. 2013, 22). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Information about state protection and services available to members of the Madhiban in Djibouti could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2. Treatment of Minorities, Including the Madhiban, in Somalia

The statement by Professor Samad to the CERD noted that the Madhiban are an outcaste group in Somalia (Samad Aug. 2002). In the OHCHR press release, she indicates that the Madhiban are considered to be part of an [translation] "inferior caste" in Somalia (12 Aug. 2003). The MRG website indicates that the "Gaboye people have traditionally been considered distinct and lower-caste groups" (May 2011). MRG also states that the Gaboye people in Somalia have no political representation, are socially and economically marginalized, and are discriminated against in the workplace (May 2011).

For information on the Gabooye people in Somalia, including subgroups, languages, occupations, location, and affiliated clans, please see the Response to Information Request SOM104239.

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 for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Danish Demining Group and Small Arms Survey (SAS). [2009]. Community Safety and Small Arms in Somaliland. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2013]

Madhibaan.org. 5 January 2005. "People Profile - The Somali People (Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia)." [Accessed 22 Oct. 2013]

Minority Rights Group International (MRG). May 2011. "Gaboye." [Accessed 23 Oct. 2013]

_____. 2010. Martin Hill. No Redress: Somalia's Forgotten Minorities. [Accessed 22 Oct. 2013]

Samad, Asha A. August 2002. Statement to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2013]

United Nations (UN). 12 August 2003. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). "La Sous-Commission de la promotion et de la protection des droits de l'homme achève son débat général." [Accessed 22 Oct. 2013]

United States (US). 19 April 2013. Department of State. "Djibouti." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012. [Accessed 22 Oct. 2013]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Attempts to contact the following persons and organizations within the time constraints of this Response were unsuccessful: Association pour la défense des droits de l'homme et des libertés Djibouti; Ligue djiboutienne des droits humains; Observatoire pour le respect des droits humains à Djibouti; Professor at the University of Minnesota; Somali Minority Rights and Aid Forum.

Representatives of following organizations were unable to provide information: Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology; Professor at Wellesley College.

Internet sites, including: African Commission on Human and People's Rights; Agence djiboutienne d'information; All Africa; Aménagement linguistique dans le monde; Amnesty International; Association for Respect of Human Rights in Djibouti; Djibouti - Official Website of the Republic of Djibouti; Djibouti Diaspora Network; ecoi.net; Ethnologue; Factiva; Human Rights Watch; International Crisis Group; Jeune Afrique; La Nation [Djibouti]; Small Arms Survey; Somali Minority Rights and Aid Forum; United Nations - Integrated Regional Information Networks, OHCHR, Refworld; United States - Congressional Research Service; University of Djibouti.

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