No mention of the Pakistanaise clan could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, according to information provided during a 17 October 2001 telephone interview with an associate professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in Somali affairs, there could be a clan called "Pakistanaise" in the area surrounding Mogadishu. He said that although he had not heard of such a group, it is possible that it could exist in that area, as both Muslim and Hindu traders from South Asia settled in that area in the 19th century, mainly along the coast (ibid.). The professor described the term "Pakistanaise" as a relatively new term, which would be the type of name given to a group from Pakistan by local Somalis (ibid.).

A study by the Danish Immigration Service reported that information provided by a representative of the Eyle (Eile) community in Nairobi indicates that the Eyle clan, although originally from the area around Bur Hakaba in the Bay region, now also inhabits the area around Bulo Burte in the Hiraan region (Minority Groups in Somalia Dec. 2000, Chapter 8).

According to a Somalia Watch report issued in January 2000, Bulo Burte was reported as being "tense, with armed militia from two sub-clans clashing and killing several people." The main cause of the tension was land use disputes, which community leaders were not able to settle (ibid).

No further information on clans living in Bulo Burte or on the current situation in the area could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

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.

Danish Immigration Service. December 2000. Minority Groups in Somalia. http://www.udlst.dk/sjle1/somaliaeng00/kap8.html [Accessed 2 November 2001]

Somalia Watch. 19 January 2000. "Food Security Highlights of Somalia - December 1999." http://www.somaliawatch.org/archive/000119601.htm [Accessed 6 November 2001]

University of Pennsylvania. 17 October 2001. Telephone interview with associate professor of history.

IRB Databases

Africa Confidential 1999-2001.

Africa Research Bulletin 1999-2001.

Africa South of the Sahara 2000.

IRIN

NEXIS

US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1999-2000.

World Directory of Minorities

WNC

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch

Minorities at Risk