Document #1092393
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
None of the sources consulted by the DIRB
refer to the Makahil as a subclan of the Ogaden clan.
According to Gilkes, the Makahil, after the
Madahasi, is the "second main subclan" of the Gadabursi, whom he
estimates number 300,000 or about 8 per cent of the northern
population (July 1992, 49). The northern area, former British
Somaliland, is home to three clan families: the Isaaq, the Dir
(consisting of the Issa and the Gadabursi clans), and the Darod
(ibid., 43). The Gadabursi clan consists of the Madahasi subclan
(which is the largest), the Makahil and the Arfan (ibid., 49).
According to Gilkes, the Makahil are
more significant politically with such
subclans as the Jibril Yunis around Boroma and Lafayisa; the Rer
Ugas, mostly in Ethiopia around Aw Bare (also called Teferi Bar)
and west; and the Rer Nur Yunis centred on Dilla but also across
the border around Aw Bare (inside Somalialand, they also neighbour
the Jibril Abokr and have poor relations with them)" (ibid.).
Gilkes states that the Gadabursi set up the
Somalia Democratic Alliance (SDA) in 1989, but that it subsequently
split into factions (ibid.). The Makahil created their own
political grouping, the Horval Democratic Front, in late 1991 in
Ethiopia, where they have an established political and historical
base (ibid.).
A genealogy chart prepared by the General
Survey of British Somaliland in 1944 depicts the following Makahil
tribes as belonging to the Gadabursi clan: Makahil Mikadore, Musa
Makahil, Makahil Dera, Ali Makahil Dera, Elli Makahil and Egeh
Makahil (1944, 5-6). The same survey lists the Ogaden clan under
the Darod clan family (ibid., 21).
None of the sources consulted by the DIRB
associate Omar Jess with a subclan of the Rer Issaq.
According to Gilkes, Omar Jess' lineage
connects him with the Rer Abdille/Mohamed Zubeir/Ogaden subclans,
which in turn belong to the Darod clan family, and not the Rer
Issaq (Sept. 1994, 133). The Indian Ocean Newsletter and
Africa Confidential identify Jess as a leader of the Somali
Patriotic Movement (SPM), which is backed by the Ogaden (29 Oct.
1994, 8; 18 Dec. 1992, 3). A map published in Africa
Confidential depicts the SPM as controlling or influencing
territory around the southern port town of Kismayu (sometimes
spelled Kismayo) (ibid., 4). Gilkes also describes Kismayo as Jess'
theatre of operation (Sep. 1994, 84-90). Ahmed Samatar depicts the
Ogaden (Ogadeen) as a clan of the Darood (Darod) clan family (1988,
11). This relationship is corroborated by D. Laitin and S. Samatar,
spell Ogaden as Ogaadeen, Darod as Daarood and Gadabursi as
Godabiirsay (1987, 32). Neither of these two sources charts the
Makahil subclan.
Information on the relationship between the
Makahil and Omar Jess' subclan in terms size and strength could not
be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
For general information on the political
situation in areas of Somaliland where the Gadabursi are found, and
information on the Darod/Ogaden clan of Omar Jess, please consult
the attachments.
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.
Africa Confidential [London]. 18
December 1992. Vol. 33, No. 25. "Somalia: Beyond the Pax
Americana."
Somali Tribes. 1989. Jean-Peirre
Gaithier. "Arbre généalogique des clans de la tribu
Somali." (Includes John A. Hunt. 1944. "Genealogies of the Tribes
of British Somaliland and the Mijertein.")
Gilkes, P.S. September 1994. The
Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations 1991-1994.
Bedfordshire: Save the Children Fund UK.
Gilkes, Patrick. July 1992. "Ethnic and
Political Movements in Ethiopia and Somalia."
Indian Ocean Newsletter [Paris].
29 October 1994. No. 644. "Aideed's 'G12'."
Laitin, David D. and Said S. Samatar.
1987. Somalia: Nation in Search of a State. Boulder, Col.:
Westview Press.
Samatar, Ahmed I. 1988. Socialist
Somalia: Rhetoric and Reality. London: Zed Books.
Gilkes, P.S. September 1994. The
Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations 1991-1994.
Bedfordshire: Save the Children Fund UK, pp. 133-36.
Gilkes, Patrick. July 1992. "Ethnic and
Political Movements in Ethiopia and Somalia." pp. 43-56.