London(ANN)-When comes to African Union moral for the existing borders which were drawn by European colonial powers, but reversely the African map has been changing and changing by the winds blow left changes: Eritrea’s split from Ethiopia in 1993 and South Sudan’s independence in 2011. What is compelling to push aside Somaliland case ??
When comparing these countries what makes Somaliland case for recognition so different? Somaliland case has strong demands for international recognition from:
1) alleged internal effectiveness,
2) territorial and governmental legitimacy,
3) historical tradition of statehood,
4) right of self-determination.
From the historical perspective, three different historical-political situations, which lead to the unilateral declaration of the entity, may be defined. They are the following types of secession:
1). In compliance with the right to self-determination (entities which declared independence during the decolonization process),
2). In conflict with the right to self-determination (entities forming on a dependent territory which did not undergo the decolonization process and whose emergence was in conflict with the principle of a nation´s right to self-determination).
3). Outside the context of decolonization (a fairly large group of entities emerging after formal decolonization of dependent territories and the establishment of internationally recognized sovereign states, on whose territories there were post-independence attempts to unilaterally declare independence for parts of such territories).
Somaliland´s right for independent statehood can be argued on three levels. As Roethke argues from the perspective of international law, the Law of Union between Somaliland and Somalia has legally never entered in force. “International law may legitimize the secession of Somaliland in the context of decolonization if the union of the British and Italian colonies were invalid.” (Roethke, 2011, p. 35). Secondly, even if we accept the validity of the Law of Union, post-1945 shows evidences that entities (sovereign states) voluntary merging keep the right to restore its independence (Mali Federation, Senegambia, United Arab Republic are all now dissolved which is the case of Somaliland.
De facto secession of Somaliland also respects the principle of uti possidetis because Somaliland was a British protectorate prior to the merger with Italian Somalia in 1960. Thus it would only restore its independence.
The second arguments for secession has a support in political theory of secession. Political development of unitary Somalia witnessed targeted oppression of Somalilanders during the Barre regime and current state of anarchy in the territory of Somalia which became a synonym for the extreme state collapse and provides arguments for secession.
Somaliland is thus trapped in the situation where it virtually lacks the parent state. Central government in Mogadishu has not only violated the rights of Somalilanders in the past, but it is also unable to guarantee the rights ofSomalilanders in future, which is the condition under which the international law allows the secession.
Third, there is no relevant Pandora´s Box argument taking place in case of Somaliland´s recognition. We did not observe any of such crumbling after South Sudan´s independence. There is, however, another scenario possible – one that can be called a British model. In this scenario Somalia and Somaliland would form two autonomous parts of one internationally recognized entity of Union of Somalia and Somaliland. It is thus clear that the main difference between the two cases is in approach from the parent state and that the international recognition is closely linked to approval from the original recognised entity.
Purely, on reading Somaliland probably has stronger a case for international recognition than does South Sudan, Eretrea or Kosovo.
Somaliland was administered through most of the colonial period as a British protectorate, while other parts of the Somali territories were controlled by the Italians, the British in Kenya, Ethiopia, or the French in Djibouti. At independence, Somaliland even enjoyed several days of widely recognised sovereignty, before (willingly) joining with the ex-Italian territory in the south. Somaliland can therefore be described as a formerly independent state reasserting its independent international personality.