Hussein Abdi (Daacad), FRSPH.

My support for #Somaliland has nothing to do with Somalia being a failed state, or with naivety about the complications a new sovereign entity creates. It comes down to something simpler: international law recognizes the right of peoples to self-determination, and the international community has established clear criteria for what qualifies a territory for recognition. Somaliland meets every one of them - more convincingly, frankly, than either the Palestinians or the Kurds, whose cases attract far more attention. But what makes Somaliland genuinely distinct is the historical argument. This is not a new entity seeking birth. It is an old one seeking the restoration of its sovereignty. Unlike the rest of Somalia, Somaliland was a British protectorate - a separate colonial entity from the Italian-administered south. On June 26, 1960, it gained independence from Britain and was recognized as a sovereign state by 35 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Five days later, on July 1, it voluntarily entered into union with the former Italian Somaliland to form the Somali Republic. That voluntary union between two sovereign states is precisely what makes its dissolution legally defensible - analogous to the breakup of the United Arab Republic or the Soviet Union. Somaliland is not breaking a colonial border. It is reverting to one. An AU fact-finding mission in 2005 acknowledged this explicitly, describing Somaliland's case as "unique" and categorically distinct from a typical secessionist movement. The Montevideo Convention (1933) sets the standard checklist for statehood. Somaliland satisfies all four criteria - more effectively than Somalia itself does: ✅ Permanent population: approximately 5.7 million people ✅ Defined territory: clear borders based on the 1960 colonial boundaries ✅ Functioning government: a constitutional democracy with multiple peaceful transfers of power ✅ Capacity to enter international relations: representative offices functioning as de facto embassies, plus major commercial and security agreements including the DP World Berbera Port deal and the recent MoU with Ethiopia. The international community's standard objection is the fear of a domino effect - that recognizing Somaliland would unleash secessionist movements across Africa. It is not a compelling argument. Somaliland's case rests on a specific and documented colonial history that very few other territories can replicate. Recognition would not set a precedent so much as honor one that already exists! Seeing @Saeed_beeldeeq on @i24NEWS_EN describe the relationship between Somaliland and the UAE - and suggest the recognition is already de facto in practice - is exactly the kind of signal that matters. Quiet legitimacy has a way of becoming formal legitimacy. It just takes time.