No information on the difficulties or risks a member of the Marehan clan would face upon returning to the provinces of Bari and Nugal in the northeast is currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa.

However, according to News from Africa Watch, the Marehan, a subclan of the Darod, is the clan of Siad Barre, the deposed president who ruled Somalia for 21 years (7 Mar. 1993, 3-4). From the beginning of his rule, Siad Barre gave preference to members of his clan, who were recruited in large numbers into the public service and the army (ibid.). After Siad Barre's departure in January 1993, his former supporters and members of the Maheran clan regrouped under the Somali National Front (SNF), a warring faction led by Siad Barre's son-in-law, General Said Hersi "Morgan"(ibid.). It is under Said Hersi's command that the Somali army destroyed the city of Hargeisa in northern Somalia during the goverment offensive against the Somali National Movement (SNM) in 1988 (ibid.).

According to a Somali professor of public administration at Syracuse University in New York, cited in Response to Information Request Som 15474.E of 27 October 1993, the provinces of Bari and Nugal in northern Somalia were under the control of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) which is composed of members of the Majerteen clan (DIRB 27 Oct. 1993). News from Africa Watch states that an April 1978 aborted coup against Siad Barre staged by army officers belonging to the Majerteen clan led to reprisals against members of the same clan (7 Mar. 1993, 3).

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.

Documentation, Information and Research Branch (DIRB), Ottawa. 27 October 1993. Response to Information Request SOM15474.E.

News From Africa Watch [New York]. 7 March 1993. Vol. 5, No. 2. "Somalia: Beyond the Warlords: The Need for a Verdict on Human Rights Abuses."

News From Africa Watch [New York]. 7 March 1993. Vol. 5, No. 2. "Somalia: Beyond the Warlords: The Need for a Verdict on Human Rights Abuses."