Somaliland Minister calls forced expulsion a law enforcement operation

Somaliland’s Interior Minister Mohamed Kahin Ahmed described an operation to expel non-Somalilanders from Sool and other regions as a ‘law enforcement operation.’

Minister Kahin, a guest on Horn Cable’s Hal-adayg program, was asked if the Somaliland government would apologize to the deportees if the security situation in the Sool region did not change.

Kahin described it as an operation in line with Somaliland immigration law targeting foreigners.

“These people have been repatriated to Somalia; they have not been violated. The nature of our situation here is affected by the laws of Somaliland. As a minister, I cannot cross the Tog-Wajale border without a visa from the Ethiopian government. I cannot enter Djibouti without the proper documentation. We follow these rules all over the world.

The minister said that Somaliland and Somalia are two separate countries, and therefore, the evictions are classified as deportations.

“The local community called on their authorities to act. They asked for us to remove non-Somalilanders, and we have complied. We did not hurt anyone in the process of the deportation; they were just repatriated to their lands.”

So far, an operation has been announced in Sool, Sanaag and Sahil regions to deport Somalilanders, while in Hargeisa, police are conducting operations to repatriate Ethiopians.