According to two sources, Samaron (Samarone, Samerone) is another name for the Gadabursi clan (La Lettre de l'océan Indien, 4 Feb. 1995; Free Nation Foundation 1996-1997). Please find, attached, the genealogical chart for the Gadabursis.

A March 1998 report by the UNHCR on the voluntary repatriation program for, and reintegration of, Somali refugees indicates that relations between the Issa and Gadabursi clans on the one hand, and the governments of Djibouti and Somaliland on the other, improved considerably over the course of 1997. However, according to Country Reports 1998, access to the important positions in the government of Djibouti is unofficially limited to members of the Somali clans, including the Gadabursis (1999, 120). According to an article in La Lettre de l'océan Indien, a pro-governmental committee of Gadabursis has been formed (25 Apr. 1998). However, the same source adds that this committee does not have the approval of the entire "Gadabursi community of Djibouti which is often mistreated by the authorities and is therefore distrustful of them" (ibid.).

For additional information about members of the Gadabursi clan in Djibouti, please refer to DJI30165.E of 30 September 1998, DJI21220.E of 8 August 1995 and DJI8433.E of 22 April 1991.

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 to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1998. 1999. United States Department of State. Washington, DC : United States Government Printing Office.

Formulations. Winter 1996-1997. "Toward a New Country in East Africa." (Free Nation Foundation). http://www.freenation.org/fnf/a/f42n 1.html. [Accessed on 5 Aug. 1999].

United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). March 1998. "UNHCR'S Programme for Voluntary Repatriation and Reintegration of Somali Refugees: 1997 Progress Reports and the 1998 Programme." http://www.unhcr.ch/fdrs/somapp.htm. [Accessed on 5 Aug. 1999]

La Lettre de l'océan Indien [Paris]. 25 April 1998. "Des Gadaboursi s'activent."

_____. 4 February 1995. "Somaliland: combats dans la région de Guerissa."

Attachment

Hagi Aves. O and Abdiwahid Hagi. O. 1998. "Clan, Sub-Clan and Regional Representation in the Somali Government Organization 1960-1990: Statistical Data and Findings." Washington DC, p. 1.

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Confidential [London]. 1990- July 1999.

Amnesty InternationalOnline. Website.

Amnesty International. Annual Report 1998.

Resource Centre country file: Djibouti. 1990-1999.

FIDH. Website.

Human Rights Watch (HRW/ Africa). Website.

Keesing's Record Of World Events [Cambridge]. 1990-1999.

La Lettre Hebdomadaire de la FIDH [Paris]. 1994-1999.

Electronic sources: IRB databases, Internet, LEXIS/NEXIS, World News Connection (WNC).

Attempts to contact oral sources were unsuccessful.