Civil Conflict in Somalia
Introduction
Somalia is in that part of East Africa called “The Horn of Africa”. Its population is 95%
ethnic Somali. Following on European (French, British and Italian) and African (Ethiopian)
colonisation, the Somali population found itself distributed into five different political realities:
Italian Somalia, British Somaliland, The French Coast of Somali, Ethiopia and Kenya at the end
of the 1800s.
In 1960, at the time of independence, Italian Somalia and British Somaliland joined
together to form “The Republic of Somalia”. Up to the time of colonisation there had never been
a Somali unitary state. Indeed, the Somali are, traditionally, a nomadic animal-herding people
distributed in different clans and sub-clans.
After the coup d’etat of Mohammed Siyad Barre in 1969, the desire of the Somalis to
form a single state was sharpened; the “Greater Somalia” which, besides the two parts already
unified in 1960, was to include the area of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti inhabited by Somalis.
This led to conflict and war, especially with Ethiopia.
Between 1988 and the beginning of 1991, there was an open rebellion against the
socialist regime of Mohamed Siyad Barre in the Democratic Republic of Somalia. It succeeded
in getting rid of the dictator, but, at the same time, brought about the destruction of the Somali
state and led to civil war between the different factions on the basis of the clans. After thirteen
years of civil war and fourteen peace conferences, the Somali State still does not exist, there is
no order or security in what once was the Somali Democratic Republic.
The causes of the inter-clan conflict
Somalia was a state that could boast of an almost privileged situation in Africa: It had
ethnic unity, unity of culture, one language and one religion (Islam). Despite all of this, Somalia
finished up in unending civil war. Let us try to understand the reasons.
The Somali are indeed a single people, but they are sub-divided into numerous clans and
sub-clans that had never formed a unitary state. The state arrived with colonisation. The state
institutes were of origins foreign to their traditional culture.
The Somalis are, by tradition, nomadic pastors, in continuous search for water-wells and
grazing land. Somali history is full of inter-clan conflict over the possession of the meagre
resources that the land, in great part desert or semi-desert, offers. There are only two agricultural
areas along the two rivers Juba and Shebeli.
The time of the first Republic (1960-1969) saw the birth of very numerous parties,
almost all on the basis of the clans: the state was seen as something to be possessed in order to
share the goods on the level of the family or clan.
The socialist period of Mohamed Siyad Barre (1969-1991), after an initial positive
gesture (the introduction of a written Somali language, a campaign of literacy, women’s
promotion, etc.) ended in civil war because the dictator, to continue to reign, always supported
certain clans and his own in particular, thus sowing abundant seeds of division where there were
only clan differences.
The model of state and governance that they had, always pressured the clan factions to
seek power, not for the service of the common good of all, but for self-interest, as Siyad Barre
had done for his clan and its allies.
With the collapse of the state, the stronger clan factions split up what remained of the
state through violence: arms, constructions, ports, airports, agricultural areas, bridges, schools,
hospitals, etc.
In this situation of chaos, the better-prepared people had to seek refuge abroad or were
killed, thus further impoverishing Somalia, left at the mercy of warlords and businessmen with
no scruples.
Islam, to which the totality of the population belongs, never overcame the logic of the
clan or faction. This happened because, in addition to a relatively tolerant traditional Islam,
some fundamentalist, if not terrorist, groups infiltrated. They, even if they wished to re-unite
Somalia under the aegis of the Sharia, were in fact against the freedoms that the Somalis already
had and against the human rights that the newer generations, especially in the cities, aspired to.
“No man is an island”: in the same way the Somali people are not an island. The
international community also contributed and contributes to inter-Somali rivalry. The various
colonising states have often supported one clan against another, they favoured and compensated
one over the other for their own ends.
During the period of the cold war first the western countries, then the communist block
countries, favoured the regime of Siyad Barre, closing their eyes to the abuses of human rights
committed during his regime.
The counties bordering on Somalia, some more than others, continue to shuffle the cards
among the different Somali factions by rewarding one or the other, since they seem to be
convinced that a people continually divided and fighting is preferable to a united people.
The international traffic in arms and drugs, and even of toxic refuse, united to business
without barriers or scruples, continues to favour disunity among the various Somali clans and
their factions, who remain prisoners of their own particular interests, which are in conflict with
the common good.
I think these are the most important causes in explaining to us the inter-clan conflict in
Somalia, although others could be added.
In search of a means to overcome the conflict
The elements that could contribute to overcoming inter-clan conflict are various. Let us
look at the “internal” elements first and then pass on to the “external” elements.
Somali tradition has known of numerous clashes between clan and groups. But it has
also known long periods of tranquillity and peace. The traditional greeting and best wishes were
“nabad” (peace). Each clan had its own “nabaddoon”, that is, people that tried to build peace,
who were mediators of peace. There are still such people: they are the ones to be encouraged.
The same culture and language almost from Zeila, passing through Cape Guardafui to
Ras Kiamboni, facilitating understanding and direct contact, with the need to go through
mediators.
The same religious faith is lived with sincerity and humility could greatly help the
Somalis of the different clans to feel they are brothers: the different religious confraternities of
the past had created “villages” in which people of different clans had cohabited.
Urbanisation, while it is true that it has negative aspects, also has positive aspects:
members of different clans meet more, travel on the same means of transport, attend the same
places (schools, clinics, cinemas, markets, etc.). All this can make them understand that they can
live together.
The extreme poverty itself, in which a great part of the Somali people find themselves,
could, on the one hand, push them into fights to take possession of the meagre resources. But on
the other hand, it could help them to understand that as long as they remain divided and against
one another, they will always go lower. Common misery can make them understand that it is
necessary to find a way to unity and peace in order to survive.
It is necessary then to extend the strong sense of solidarity that exists on the level of clan
or family. A great part of Somalis in Somalia survive thanks to the help coming from their
family relations abroad. This “natural” solidarity could be extended to include also the members
of other clans with which they cohabit, or the clans of the same region and, finally, of the whole
nation.
The civil war has forced numerous Somali into exile (more than one million out of eight
million). Meeting with other peoples and other situations help to reflect better on their own
history, on their identity and pushes them to find new solutions never thought of before.
The international community also has an important role to play in overcoming Somali
conflict. Numerous peace conferences and the flow of humanitarian aid are witnesses to that.
Naturally, the same international community must be more united and coordinated if it wishes to
give real aid to the Somali People.
The international community, including the Church and Christians, has the duty of not
leaving a people in difficulty alone, but of accompanying it in the search for solutions, in
eliminating whatever favours division and in helping to rebuild a destroyed state.
The various states and various state organisations, and humanitarian organisations, can
contribute in various ways: a) blocking illegal traffic; b) supporting those Somali who work for
reconstruction and peace; c) stopping all that encourages division; d) promoting respect for all
rights and duties of all Somalis; e) praying and facilitating times of meetings so that, with the
help of God, we can be converted to listening to one another, to respecting all, to not being
discouraged in the search for good and by recognising ourselves as brothers and as sons of the
same heavenly Father.
+ Giorgio Bertin, ofm
Bishop of Djibouti
Apostolic Administrator of Mogadiscio.
Djibouti, 29.03.2004.