In October 2021 the Somaliland administration forcibly evicted almost 1500 people including women, children, the elderly, and sick from their homes in Lasanod. They had received no warning from the police or local authority and were forced into trucks without their families, these lawful citizens were taken ‘at threat of violence’ from their homes, brought to the local football stadium and packed into Lorries like animals. These Lorries took them Somali cities in and around the region, pregnant women and unaccompanied children who will undoubtedly bear the brunt of this violence! They have lost their homes, assets and livelihood.
It is important to note that the people from South Somalia are not foreigners who have settled illegally in Lasanod and, most importantly, Somaliland is a part of the Somali Federal Republic. Having said that, forced displacement is classified as a crime against humanity and falls into the scope of international law, and if the international community fail to address this forced displacement it will become more widespread and a form of reprisal in Somalia.
In the meantime, in 2019, Somalia becomes the 30th African country to sign the Kampala Convention (African Union Convention for the protection and assistance of an internally displaced person in Africa). This accord commits Somalia to protecting people against displacement based on policies of racial discrimination, or other similar practices aimed at, or resulting in, altering the ethics or religious or racial composition of the population, in addition to displacement being used as a collective punishment.
