Document #1018829
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
In addition to the information contained in
numerous Responses to Information Requests on the Bajuni available
at Regional Documentation Centres, a political science professor,
who specializes in Somalia and Somaliland politics at the College
of Holy Cross in Worchester, Massachusetts, stated that the
situation of the Bajuni in Somalia has not changed since the fall
of Siad Barre in January 1991(1 May 1998). He further stated that
the Bajuni do not have tribal linkages, or militias, are
defenseless, and that the majority of them currently live in
refugee camps in Kenya and Yemen (ibid.).
A doctoral student at York University, in
Toronto, who specializes in the history of the Benadir people in
Somalia corroborated the above information adding that the
traditional homelands of the Bajuni and the Bravanese, which were
originally in the Kismayu coastal zone, have been occupied by
warring Somali factions (5 May 1998). Patrick Gilkes adds that
"most of the individual parcels of land were taken over by Hawiye
in 1991 - 1992 as they drove the Darod out" (Sept. 1994).
The doctoral student also claimed that
there is no active Bajuni community in Kismayo because the majority
of the Bajuni and Bravenese are in refugee camps outside Mombasa in
Kenya (5 May 1998). A 28 report posted on the internet by UNCHR
office in Nairobi (http://www.reliefweb.int) states that 1,400
refugees were scheduled to be repatriated to Somali's Bajuni
islands in April 998, and that Jomvu refugee camp in the coast
province of Kenya would be closed after the repatriation.
In 1994 Kismayo was divided between the
Marehan and the Majerteen (Ken Menkhaus & John Prendergast May
1995, 84). According to the Office of the UN Humanitarian and
Resident Coordinator for Somalia, Marehan militias launched a
surprise attack on Kismayo city on 14 June 1996 causing severe
fighting between the Majerteeen and Marehan militias (1 May - 30
June 1997). For information on the consequences of this attack
particularly on the Bajuni/Bravanese (sometimes referred to as
Somali Arabs), please consult Response to Information Request
SOM26163.E of 17 February 1997 available at Regional Documentation
Centres.
In the fall of 1997, General Morgan of the
Somali Patriotic Movement/Somali Salvation Alliance (SPM/SSA), and
Colonel Abdi Mahdi of the SPM/Somali National Alliance (SPM/SNA)
signed a joint declaration "recommending the formation of a joint
security team, a regional administration, and the introduction of
Sharia Law in the Lower and Middle Juba regions" (ibid., Jan. 1998,
3). The UN office further states that the situation in Kismayo
between 1 September and 31 October 1997 was "calm," following
reconciliation talks between the Majerteen and Marehan clans
(ibid.).
However, a 1 April 1998 Inter Press Service
(IPS) report claims that renewed "fierce fighting" between forces
loyal to the Marehan led by General Omar Haji Mohamed and those of
the Majerteen led by General Said Hirsi "Morgan" was threatening
the safe delivery of UN humanitarian emergency supplies to the
southern regions of Middle and Lower Juba, Lower Shebelle, Gedo and
Bakool districts, "where flooding has severely affected 657,00
people." According to the doctoral student fighting between the two
Darod subclans: the Majerteen and the Marehan, currently continues
in Kismayo and the town is under the control of General Mohamed
Hirsi Morgan (5 May 1998).
The political science professor stated that
Mohamed Rajis Mohamed, the founder and leader of the Somali
National Union (SNU) is a medical doctor by profession, and has
been an active participant in Somalia's peace initiatives including
the Cairo Agreement of December 1997 (1 May 1998). The doctoral
student added that the SNU represents the interests of the Reer
Hamar, the Bajuni and the Bravenese (5 May 1998). He further stated
that Mohamed Rajis Mohamed is stationed in the town of Mombasa in
Kenya. He claimed that although Mohamed Rajis Mohamed alleges to
represent the Bajunis, Bravanese and the Reer Hamar, he is a
self-appointed and self-sponsored leader, who does not consult with
the elders of these communities. Nonetheless, he added, he has been
actively involved in the peace talks and is one of the signatories
of the recent Cairo Agreement of 17 December 1997.
For information on the situation in Kismayo
in early 1997, please consult the Report on the Nordic
Fact-Finding Mission to Central and Southern Somalia 15 February to
14 March 1997, which is available at Regional Documentation
Centres. Information on whether, at the beginning of the war in
1990 in the Kismayo area, militias forcibly recruited young Bajuni
men and kidnapped Bajuni women to serve as cooks could not be found
among reports 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.
References
Doctoral student specializing in the
history of the Benadir in Somalia, York University, Toronto. 4 May
1998. Telephone interview.
Inter Press Service (IPS). 1 April 1998.
Moyiga Nduru. "Somalia: U.N. Expresses Concern Over Renewed
Fighting." (NEXIS)
CSIS Africa Notes [Washington, DC]. May
1995. Ken Menkhaus and John Prendergast. "Governance and Economic
Survival in Postintervention Somalia," (Compiled in Information
Session on Country Conditions on Somalia. Toronto. 15 February
1996)
Danish Immigration Service. May 1997.
Report on the Nordic Fact-Finding Mission to Central &
Southern Somalia 15 February - 14 March 1997. (Copenhagen:
Danish Immigration Service).
Gilkes, Patrick. September 1994. The
Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations 1991-1994.
Bedfordshire, UK: Save the Children Fund, UK.
Political science professor specializing
in Somalia and Somaliland politics, College of Holy Cross,
Worchester, Massachusettes. 1 May 1998. Telephone interview.
United Nations. January 1998. "From
Relief to Development in Somalia: Situation Report for the Period 1
September - 31 October 1997." Nairobi: Office of the United Nations
Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia.
_____. July 1997. "From Relief to
Development in Somalia: Situation Report for the Period 1 May 30 -
30 June 1997." Nairobi: Office of the United Nations Humanitarian
and Resident Coordinator for Somalia.
UNHCR. 28 March 1998. "UNHCR Flies
Somali Refugee Home." (http://www.reliefweb.int)
Additional Sources Consulted
Africa Confidential [London].
1991-1992. Vols. 32 & 33.
Africa Research Bulletin
[Oxford]. 1991-1992. Vols. 27-29.
Human Rights Watch. September 1990 -
February 1992.
Horn of Africa Bulletin. 1990 -
1991. Bols. 13 & 14.
Gilkes, P.S. September 1994. The
Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations 1991-1994.
Bedfordshire, U.K.: Save the Children's Fund.
The Invention of Somalia.
Edited by Ali Jamale Ahmed. 1995. Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea
Press.
Electronic sources: DIRB Databases,
Global News Bank, Lexis/Nexis, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR dtabase),
World News Connection (WNC).
Two oral sources could not provide
information on the requested subject.