Britain has a moral duty to formally recognise my home country Somaliland

HISTORY was being made in the Horn of Africa, just at the point last week when many of us were contemplating what our new year resolutions would be.

- Nimco Ali

 Somaliland, a former British protectorate which declared itself independent from Somalia in 1991, struck a deal with Ethiopia for recognition. The full agreement signed by Somaliland’s president Muse Bihi Abdi and the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has not yet been published. But we do know via statements released by both sides that Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which would give Ethiopia access to one of Somaliland’s Red Sea ports. The president has said that in return, Somaliland would gain recognition as an independent state.

When I read the words “recognition of Somaliland”, the first thing I thought was “I wish my grandparents were alive to see this news”. What happens in Somaliland is personal to me because it’s where I was born and its recognition is something I and other British Somalilanders have hoped and fought for all our lives.

Somaliland has a functioning political system, periodic elections, a police force, and its own currency. Moreover, it has managed to largely evade the turmoil and violence experienced by Somalia throughout the years. I make this comparison because the UK has invested a lot into Somalia and ignored Somaliland — to its detriment.