Généalogie du Peuple Somali lists the Bon-Marehan in its Marehan genealogy table (nd, 100). However, it does not list the Hawrarsame as a subgroup of the Bon-Marehan, although it does list the Warsame (ibid.). For information on how the Bon-Marehan fit into Marehan genealogy, please consult page 100 of Information Session on Country Conditions on Somalia, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.

A political scientist at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina and a historian at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia both stated in separate telephone interviews on 25 April 1996 that the 'Bon' prefix to Somali clan names generally indicates a subordinate status group associated with a larger and/or more powerful clan group. For example, the two sources stated that the Bon-Marehan were possibly clients of a larger, more powerful Marehan subclan to whom they were dependent for protection in return for various menial labour tasks (ibid.). These client subgroups are not large enough to be a threat to anyone, but they are unable to rely upon the threat of retribution against anyone who might victimise them (ibid.). Additional information on the Bon-Marehan or the Hawrarsame could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB 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.

Généalogie du Peuple Somali. n.d. (Compiled in Information Session on Country Conditions on Somalia, Toronto. 15 February 1996)

Historian, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. 25 April 1996. Telephone interview.

Political scientist, Davidson College, Davidson, NC. 25 April 1996. Telephone interview.
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