The Country to Nowhere

Over a decade ago, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair described Africa as a “scar on the conscience of the world.” If Africa is a scar, what then is Somalia, a nation that has not had a real government since 1991, when a civil war ripped the then-socialist country into shreds? It is among the poorest and most violent places on earth, the base from which pirates ply the nearby seas to plunder, capture and hold the crews and their vessels hostage for ransom. It is a nation where rape and murder are a way of life, where the median age is around 17, because folks don’t live long is this shattered world. The Transitional National Government (their “transistional” mandate ends this coming August), the structure with which much of the rest of the world deals, only controls a very small part of the country. Somalia’s roughly 11 million people are significantly nomadic or pastoral; they eke out their living in a sparse agricultural world, with a fairly strong trade in livestock. But the Horn of Africa is a harsh mistress of late.

“In mid-2011, two consecutive missed rainy seasons precipitated the worst drought in the Horn of Africa seen in 60 years. Belated and sub-average harvests, high food, water and fuel prices, and depleted grazing and farm lands caused by an estimated 25% drop in rainfall led to a large movement of people from the conflict-stricken parts of southern Somalia to relief centers in neighboring countries. In July 2011, the United Nations officially declared a famine in several regions of southern Somalia, a situation reportedly exacerbated by a temporary ban on relief supplies imposed by Islamist militants.” Wikipedia. Regional war lords had no problem diverting desperately-needed donated food and medical supplies from the starving millions who needed it… because they could make money selling that which was intended to be free. That tens of thousands died fairly quickly as a result never crossed their minds.

The most stable internal region is a small pocket – Somaliland (orange in the map above) – in the northwestern corner of this strangely-shaped country that literally wraps itself around the horn of Africa, but the rest of the country is in shambles. But famine had its way with stability. The capital city – Mogadishu – is a port city in the south, but most Americans who even know it exists remember it from that horrific story of trapped U.S. soldiers captured in the film, Blackhawk Down. The south defines suffering and death, and the greatest current source of despotic malevolence comes from a fundamentalist Islamic militia, Al-Shabaab (which is affiliated with and supported by al Qaeda), that controls most of this part of Somalia (see the black area in the above map). They seem to define brutality and cruelty, pressing thousands of refugees south across into Kenya, a nation that has its own drought issues. But in October of 2011, Kenyan forces joined troops under the direction of the Transitional National Government to attack Al-Shabaab forces operating above the border, pushing these Islamist guerilla out of the capital city and other strategic areas… for now.

The world had almost much written off Somalia and its people when in late February, a UK sponsored global conference on the future of Somalia convened to see if there were any real solutions that might bring the disaster that has befallen that nation to a close. African neighbors were feeling the higher costs imposed on goods and services in transit to and from the East African coast by reason of incredibly higher insurance costs necessitated by the uptick in Somali piracy. Such neighbors were equally concerned with the thousands and thousands of desperate refugees crowding across their borders seeking sanctuary from the famine and violence.

The conference focus was on embellishing internal security, containing al-Shabaab, throttling the pirates who have made life so costly for the region, enlisting the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to continue its active involvement and bolstering the internal economic and political resources to facilitate a democratic solution to the currently ungovernable country. Humanitarian relief was discussed but with the subsidence of the drought, conditions from nature were less desperate.

Perhaps the words of the communiqué as it relates to internal security and justice, just two parts of the broader plan, are at the core of the conference direction:

10. We agreed that security and justice were essential both to a successful political process and to development. Better security could only be achieved sustainably in parallel with better justice and the rule of law.

11. We expressed gratitude to those countries whose troops had served as peacekeepers and paid tribute to the achievements and sacrifices of AMISOM and other forces. We welcomed joint planning by the UN and African Union and reiterated the importance of effective command and control. We welcomed the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2036, which expands AMISOM’s mandate and raises the troop ceiling. We encouraged AMISOM to ensure the protection of civilians. We encouraged partners, especially new donors, to contribute to funding for AMISOM, including through the EU.

12. We agreed that, over time, Somalis should take over responsibility for providing their own security and develop their own justice systems to deal with the threats to their security and improve access to justice. We noted that Somalis themselves must decide what security and justice arrangements they need.

13. We acknowledged the good work underway in supporting the Somali security and justice sectors. We agreed that we would build an international framework of partners in order to bring much needed coordination and focus to those efforts... and working closely with the UN’s Joint Security Committee.

But in the end, these are just words with some occasional military support. Will this country find even a modicum of stability any time soon? And exactly how will the millions and millions of Somalis find a path to a life without fear and terror?

I’m Peter Dekom, and it’s easy to forget about a country so far away that has been nothing but problems for decades… until you individualize the suffering.