Specific information that would update Response to Information Request SOM20737.E of 31 May 1995 could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB. According to I.M. Lewis' 1955 map of Somali clans (reprinted in the European Union's Study of Decentralised Political Structures for Somalia: A Menu of Options), the Bartire branch of the Darod clan family is found in southern Somalia, west of the Juba River, and in Ethiopia near the town of Jijiga (EU 1995, n.p.). This information on the historical location of the Bartire is corroborated by Généalogie du peuple Somali (n. d., 69).

In a 26 September 1996 telephone interview, a Somalia specialist at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, stated that within Somalia, the Bartire can also be found among the Mohamed Zubeir and the Aulihan, two subclans belonging to the Ogaden branch of the Darod clan. Several sources group the Bartire with the Ogadeni clans via the Absame clan grouping (ibid.; HRW/Africa Apr. 1995, 71; United Kingdom, Asylum Division, Oct. 1995, 71; Gilkes Sept. 1994, see clan chart, n.p.).

For additional information on the Ogadeni branch of the Darod clan, please consult Response to Information Request SOM24776.E of 10 September 1996, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres. Please note that the spelling of Somali place names and clan names is not consistent in the literature, and that each of the spellings used in this Response reflects the original spelling found in the cited sources.

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. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

EC Somalia Unit, European Union (EU). August 1995. "Distribution of Somali Clans and Neighbouring People," A Study of Decentralised Political Structures for Somalia: A Menu of Options. London: European Union/United Nations Development Office for Somalia.

Généalogie du peuple Somali. n.d. (Compiled in Documentation, Information and Research Branch (DIRB), Immigration and Refugee Board. February 1996. "Supplement to Information Session on Country Conditions on Somalia")

Gilkes, P. September 1994. The Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations: 1991-1994. Bedfordshire, UK: Save the Children Fund, UK.

Human Rights Watch (HRW)/Africa. April 1995. Somalia Faces the Future. New York: Human Rights Watch/Africa.

Somali specialist, political science department, Davidson College, Davidson, NC. 26 September 1996. Telephone interview.

United Kingdom. Asylum Division of the Home Office. October 1995. Somalia: Background Brief. (Compiled by the DIRB. February 1996. "Supplement to Information Session on Country Conditions on Somalia")

Africa Confidential. 1996.

Africa Research Bulletin. 1996.

DIRB Somalia Country File. 1996.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports. 1996.

Horn of Africa Bulletin. 1996.

The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 1996.

Information Session on Somalia. February 1996.

"Supplement to Information Session on Country Conditions on Somalia." February 1996.

United Nations Situation Reports. 1996.

USAID Situation Reports. 1996