Document #1284752
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
According to a consultant specializing in
Somali affairs with the United Nations Emergencies Unit for
Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, forcible recruitment is not generally
practised by Somali clans (15 Nov. 1995). In Somaliland the use of
clan militia are "peripheral to the employment of 'regular'
military forces" (ibid.). The consultant also states that
"individuals or families who elect not to participate in their clan
militia would not, as a rule, be subject to any adverse
'consequences'" (ibid.).
For additional information, please consult
the attachment and Response to Information Request SOM21584.E of 18
August 1995, which is available at Regional Documentation
Centres.
A professor of Somali history at the
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia stated in a telephone
interview on 9 November 1995 that he had not seen much evidence of
forcible recruitment during his research in the country. The
professor thought it might be possible for individuals to be
pressed to fight for a specific purpose, as in a counter attack, or
for immediate defense of the local community, but not for a
sustained period of time (ibid.). The professor added that
minorities without a clan basis may not fare as well as clan
members, but he was not aware of forcible recruitment on a
systematic basis (ibid.).
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.
United Nations Emergencies Unit for
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. 15 November 1995. Fax sent to the DIRB by a
consultant specializing in Somali affairs.
Professor of Somali history at
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. 9 November 1995.
Telephone interview.
United Nations Emergencies Unit for
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. 15 November 1995. Fax sent to the DIRB by a
consultant specializing in Somali affairs.