Opinion
Somalia: west has yet to come clean over its policy of neglect
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Jul 31, 2010 - 11:19:45 AM

From Mr Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah

Sir, I understand Gideon Rachman’s frustration with western policy in Afghanistan (“Somali lessons for Afghanistan”, July 27). I share his frustrations but for different reasons. The western world’s policy towards Somalia, which one may call “containment” but in reality is closer to neglect, is hardly an example to follow.

More than Afghanistan, Somalia, where I have just served three years as the UN representative, is a threat not only to itself and the region but to the world, notably through piracy. The long Somali war with its criminalised economy, attendant greed and cynicism and above all impunity and violence against the weakest, is also a profitable business for many, including western actors. Somalis bear a great responsibility for this. But western organisations too have yet to come clean.

Western assistance comes too late and even then is mostly spent outside Somalia. Of $213m raised towards assisting the transitional government in establishing its authority at a donor conference in Brussels in 2009, only $3.5m actually reached the government. International conferences and calls for dialogue have become a profitable end in themselves and a motive for the Somali actors of the day to undermine the transitional government and broader stability.

Managing the status quo is benefiting in particular many external actors and cementing so many alliances of convenience. It is hard to sell proposals for a way out, when the circumstances in the country are so sparsely reported and analysis so weak. Is it widely known, for example, that Somalia has become a global centre for the dumping of solid, chemical and possibly nuclear waste? That Somali waters are plied by hundreds of illegal fishing boats, cruising in total impunity?

During my three-year tenure as UN representative to Somalia, I saw genuine interest and commitment only from secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon and the African Union. The US would like to help more but is an easy target for western critics and hence is often undecided.

It has become clear to me that the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the regional sub-organisation, would do a better job at establishing stability. In the former Yugoslavia, this was a role the European Union took on supported by the US. In West Africa, it was Ecowas, the sub-regional organisation that helped to bring stability, especially in Liberia. With the African Union and the UN, IGAD could help stabilise Somalia if timely assistance is provided and less external interference is accepted. In the end, the European approach to Somalia is more a surrender of international obligations than “containment”.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, Former UN Under-Secretary General to Somalia
Brussels, Belgium

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010.