Peace and Environment News* October 1993
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Peace and Environment News * October 1993 |
 Soyan Omar. Photo: Tim Donais |
When Soyan Omar left his home in Belet Huen, Somalia, on October 18, 1990, his homeland was already beginning to sink into chaos. He left two months before the beginning of the civil war which toppled dictator Mohammed Siyad Barre. From Canada, Omar watched as war, then famine, ravaged Somalia. He also watched as US forces stormed ashore into Somalia last December in an effort to open up supply lines to the starving, and then watched again as UN forces took over. Now Omar, who is completing a political science degree at Carleton University in Ottawa, wonders why UN forces are chasing Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid through the streets of Mogadishu, rather than concentrating on helping the country rebuild itself.
PEN contributor Timothy Donais spoke to Soyan Omar recently about the current situation in Somalia, and the country's hopes for the future.
PEN: Why has the UN operation in Somalia gotten into so much trouble?
S. Omar: The matter has been complicated by two emerging forces which have no common agenda. What you have now is two different forces—the UN and the US—in which everyone has his own mandate, his own rules of engagement. So in the eyes of the local people you can see the difference. When the Marines landed in Somalia, it was a welcome. Then, the chaos started after the UN took over in May.
PEN: What do you think of the UN policy to try to arrest Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid?
S. Omar: The problem of UNOSOM—they put too much emphasis on one person, which is absolutely unnecessary. The problem is they have a centralized mandate, which is not working right now in Somalia, which has never worked...They have so much centralized in Mogadishu, especially in the south. What you are talking about is the three kilometres of South Mogadishu which Aidid and his people are trying to control. The whole country is in jeopardy because of that three kilometres.
They're trying to capture Aidid, it doesn't make any sense, someone will represent him—you can't eliminate the whole clan.
PEN: So if they get Aidid, someone else will take his place?
S. Omar: In a minute. Without any hesitation. The UN has to have de-centralized operations in Somalia, so we don't have to wait for South Mogadishu to clear up before any other operations go on. The North is safe, the central regions are safe, and the southern regions are safe—every city in the country is safe except Mogadishu—and not all of Mogadishu, it's only part of Mogadishu. So the whole progress, the whole political infrastructure of Somalia, depends on that three kilometres.
PEN: How can the UN get out of the dilemma it has gotten into?
S. Omar: The UN should move ahead, re-establish, re-construct the internal infrastructure of the peaceful places. So, South Mogadishu will be forced to lay down its arms when they see that everybody is getting up. It has to be roads, it has to be internal infrastructure...if all goes well, then South Mogadishu will be saved. But if you wait to clear South Mogadishu, God knows how long it takes.
We can't wait, because we've already waited enough. The food is everywhere, then what? The mandate of giving aid to starving people, that mandate is over, because people are getting back to work, they're harvesting their own crops. But then what? Where is the internal infrastructure of Somalia? Do we have to wait until Aidid is apprehended? I don't think so.
PEN: If the UN were to pull out tomorrow, who would take control—wouldn't it revert back to clan warfare? Is there anyone in Somalia who could legitimately take over from the UN right now?
S. Omar: The situation in Somalia is the first one I've ever heard where there has been a total collapse of internal infrastructure. I have seen coups, I have seen revolution, but I've never seen a total collapse of internal infrastructure, and a city, a nation, a country which has been existing is no longer existing. There is no legitimate government. When it comes to a democracy, or when it comes to national elections, the warlords know that they will lose, because of the atrocities they have committed. In order for them to reach that national election, they are trying to grasp as much power as they can by the gun.
So the local regions have to establish their local infrastructure, and the UN must urge the political participation of every walk of life on a regional basis. Then, when you have ten, fifteen of the regions ready, then Mogadishu has to be ready, it will be in the mainstream.
You already have peace, so create the political environment. Get the people back to work. Establish some form of a government at the provincial or regional level, whatever. Do something.
PEN: You're saying that the UN needs to be active in getting the country back to work again, and in setting up political and economic infrastructure. Is there enough respect left for the UN to allow it to play that sort of role?
S. Omar: There is. Something is better than nothing. The presence of the UN is better than if they were not there. But it's not everything for the UN to be there. If they can't perform what they want in South Mogadishu, they can perform in Belet Huen, in Kismayo, everywhere. Why don't they? If they wanted to have a solution for Somalia, they would have done something. Somalia is not only the south of Mogadishu - 95 per cent of the total mass of Somalia is safe.
PEN: Are you optimistic about the future of Somalia?
S. Omar: I am optimistic, for one reason. People are fed up. As Somalis, we lost almost everything—the country has been brought to its knees. There is nothing more to lose, we are at the bottom. They have killed what they could kill, they have demolished what they could demolish. They did what they can do. So now, in the minds of everybody, enough is enough.
PEN: Do you still have family in Somalia?
S. Omar: I do have my brothers and sisters, my father and mother. They are fine, they have no troubles, but they are in the central region. They don't have any problems at all. But nothing is going on—no tax collectors, no police force...the police office is empty, no teachers. But they are trying to sort of build life again, what they lost.
PEN: Any idea when you will return?
S. Omar: As soon as I graduate, I will be the first one to go. I am optimistic about what I can do.
Converted February 14, 2001 - Lg
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