Garowe (PP Editorial) — The Info Minister of the Somaliland Administration acknowledged yesterday that “the Somaliland Administration wouldn’t comply with an alternate of detainees with the Federal Authorities of Somalia.” His justification for this place was that solely the events to the battle — specifically, the Somaliland Administration and the Sool, Sanaag, Cayn Khatumo (SSC) administration — can legitimately prepare such exchanges.
The SSC administration has transferred 25 Somaliland detainees to the Federal Authorities of Somalia, as a prelude to a proper alternate of detainees captured throughout the Laascaanood battle in 2023.
A number of components make the Somaliland Administration’s argument politically implausible. In 2005, a detainee alternate between the Somaliland Administration and Puntland was facilitated by the Puntland Improvement Analysis Heart and the Hargeisa-based Academy for Peace and Improvement. The alternate passed off in Adhicaddeeye, the location of clashes between Puntland State and Somaliland forces in 2004. What makes detainee alternate extra sophisticated in 2025 is each the character of the battle and the id of the detainees. The battle is rooted in the secession declare of Somaliland administration. In 2023 the Somaliland Administration defied UN Safety Council calls to withdraw its troops from the outskirts of Laascaanood. Subsequently, it known as for a two-state resolution as a precondition for halting the shelling of Laascaanood.
The id of a number of the Somaliland detainees strengthens the Federal Authorities of Somalia’s declare to be the suitable authority to facilitate detainee exchanges. Some detainees maintain IDs issued within the Somali Area of Ethiopia. Others claimed to originate from areas within the Somalia area of Ethiopia:
- Awaare (Garhajis sub-clan of the Isaaq),
- Dawa’aley (Arap sub-clan of the Isaaq), and
- Awbarre (Samaroon clan).
Based mostly on these claims, ought to the detainees be thought of Ethiopian residents or Somali residents?
A number of detainees from the Samaroon clan claimed that they’d joined the secessionist forces after former Somaliland Vice President Abdirahman Sayli’i used to be despatched to Borama to recruit volunteers for the battle.
In 2005, Somalia had a transitional federal authorities that was lower than a yr outdated. Somalia has a everlasting federal authorities, established 12 years in the past in 2012. It’s now the one institutionally succesful authority for facilitating detainee exchanges stemming from a posh battle in Northern Somalia.
© Puntland Submit, 2025
