Somaliland: British Colony, Palestinian Concentration Camp?

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In recent months, Somaliland has become a subject of intense, unprecedented interest for the Western media. As Israeli and US officials scramble to find a destination to forcibly relocate Gaza’s population from their shattered homeland, the little-acknowledged, unrecognised breakaway statelet is increasingly viewed as an attractive option. Multiple mainstream media reports indicate officials in Tel Aviv and Washington are making discrete overtures to Hargeisa on the topic. On March 14th, the Financial Times revealed:

“A US official briefed on Washington’s initial contacts with Somaliland’s presidency said discussions had begun about a possible deal to recognise the de facto state in return for the establishment of a military base near the port of Berbera on the Red Sea coast.”

Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi has made international recognition a major priority, and the prospect of a permanent US military presence insulating the breakaway territory from violent instability that regularly engulfs Somalia is also no doubt enormously attractive. From Washington’s perspective too, such an arrangement offers profuse geopolitical gains well-beyond the involuntary relocation of millions of Palestinians, to make way for Trump’s fantasised ‘Gaza-Lago’. For one, Somaliland’s proximity to the Arabian peninsula makes the territory an ideal staging ground for strikes on Yemen.

This would represent a vital new strategic foothold for the Empire in Africa, at a time French and US occupation forces are being evicted from countries across the continent with ever-increasing rapidity. Moreover, it could serve as a counterweight to constantly growing Chinese and Russian influence locally. In 2017, Beijing established its very first overseas military base in Somaliland’s neighbouring Djibouti. Ever since, the country has been a pugnacious critic of Western policy in the region, and allowed Iranian ships to dock at its ports.

The geopolitical and military utility of Somaliland’s recognition as a state has long-been understood in Washington. Project 2025, a lengthy “mandate for leadership” drawn up by the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank, widely-perceived as a blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term in office, contained a dedicated section on “[countering] malign Chinese activity” in Africa. It specifically recommended “the recognition of Somaliland statehood as a hedge against the US’ deteriorating position in Djibouti.”

Trump’s readiness to recognise Somaliland was furthermore advertised in November 2024, long before the would-be country became a potential candidate for the resettlement of Palestinians. Former British defence secretary Gavin Williamson revealed he had been engaged in “really good meetings” with the President’s “policy leads” on the issue, and expressed confidence the White House would act accordingly. Williamson has long-been an ardent advocate of Somaliland’s independence, regularly undertaking all-expenses paid trips to the breakaway territory, and receiving honourary citizenship for his lobbying efforts.

Gavin Willaimson heroised in Somaliland

Williamson’s pronounced interest in Somaliland is a uniquely rare public manifestation of a little-known truth. While formally granted independence by London in 1960, and having claimed to be a sovereign, autonomous region of Somalia since 1991, Somaliland is a modern day British colony. Were Palestinians uprooted there against their will, they would be entombed in yet another open air concentration camp, under the watchful eye of British-trained local security forces with a propensity for extreme violence.

‘ASI Management’

In April 2019, prolific British government contractor Aktis Strategy declared bankruptcy, leaving scores of staff unpaid, and overseas suppliers owed vast sums. The company’s abrupt disintegration came despite reaping tens of millions of pounds from the Foreign Office for “development” projects throughout Africa and West Asia. While largely ignored by the Western media, the Somaliland Chronicle published a detailed investigation into the scandal - for Aktis was at the time of its collapse engaged in a “justice and security sector reform project” in the statelet.

Official records indicate London earmarked over £18 million for this effort alone in Somaliland, 2017 - 2022. It is just one of many British-bankrolled projects in the breakaway territory, which results in Somaliland’s entire state structure - including its government, military, judiciary, prisons, police, security and intelligence apparatus - being managed, trained, and directed by London. Such pervasive, hidden influence in these sensitive areas is amply exposed by the contents of numerous leaked British intelligence files.

For example, one document discusses how notorious British intelligence cutout Adam Smith International provides “ongoing training and mentoring” to “build the capacity” of Somaliland’s National Intelligence Agency and Rapid Response Unit, while overseeing the territory’s “forensics service”, a “Personal Identification and Recording System” that “captures data at border posts,” and “prosecution procedures managed by the Attorney General’s Office.” Somaliland’s dedicated Counter-Terrorism Unit was moreover created in 2012 with Foreign Office funding, “under ASI management.” 

Elsewhere, ASI boasts of its “proven history of establishing close professional relationships” with senior government, armed forces, police, “security sector”, and Ministry of Defence officials in Somaliland. One file notes the contractor “deployed specialist ex-UK military advisers” to run a program to “improve the capability” of “military intelligence units” in the army and coastguard. ASI “also assisted with the development” of Somaliland’s Officer Cadet course, “[mentoring] senior officers in leadership, management and military doctrine.” The contractor has even drafted laws subsequently adopted by the government.

Meanwhile, Albany, another British contractor, was charged with tutoring Somaliland authorities in the art of propaganda and information warfare. This entailed “structured training and mentoring of key government ministers…and other senior figures in working with the media,” helping them “produce a steady flow of information detailing the government’s work” and “engage proactively with journalists.” It was noted “unsatisfied public demand for information” from the government “on nationally significant events” gave independent information sources significant influence locally, which was to be countered at all costs.

Public distrust of the government was moreover exacerbated by the regular “arrest of journalists and the closure of independent media outlets” in Somaliland. By providing extensive media training to key government ministries and state organs, and appointing “spokesmen and media officers”, Albany would help authorities “to use the media to better communicate their reform agenda” with “one voice”, thus dominating the breakaway territory’s information space, and silencing dissenting local elements.

‘International Law’

For all ASI’s boasts of professionalising and reforming Somaliland’s armed forces and police, other leaked files related to the activities of contractor Coffey paint a very different picture. For instance, one document notes the statelet’s military “is the largest and most costly institution of state,” but its chiefs “resist oversight by the Ministry of Defence,” and it is “likely [army] funds are being used for purposes other than national defence and security.” Moreover, capacity for holding the military accountable for abuses is “limited”.

Elsewhere, Coffey noted that Somaliland police have “a history of applying disproportionate force to contain disorder,” and the territory lacks a “dedicated public order unit.” The contractor suggested creating such an entity in the ranks of the Special Protection Unit, a paramilitary force created to protect foreign organisations operating in the aspiring country, and individuals they employ. At time of writing, it had no remit to professionally or proportionately respond to “planned and spontaneous events, peaceful protests and outbreaks of serious public disorder.”

That document was authored in July 2015. It called for Somaliland law enforcement to be “trained and assessed by UK National Police” in Britain. There, they would learn “first aid”, how to “engage effectively with crowds or protesters”, and gain “understanding [of] human rights…according to international law.” Tutoring officers in constructive, peaceful methods of dealing with public disturbances would, Coffey pledged, ensure “proportionality, lawfulness, [and] accountability” throughout Somaliland’s police forces.

If such training was conducted, it evidently had no tangible impact whatsoever. In late 2022, mass protests broke out in the contested Somalian city of Las Anod. Somaliland security forces crushed the upheaval using lethal force, leaving dozens dead. Unrest only intensified thereafter, leading to Somaliland’s military savagely shelling the city the next year. An April 2023 Amnesty International report branded the assault “indiscriminate” in the extreme, with civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and mosques struck, hundreds killed and injured, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Protests in Las Anod, January 2023, call for Somalian reunification

Given this context, Somaliland’s appeal to Israel and its Western puppet masters as a dumping ground for Gazans is obvious. A well-armed repressive domestic security apparatus stands ever-ready to brutally quell any and all local resistance. Meanwhile, if the US used the territory to strike Yemen, displaced Palestinians could be exploited as hostages and human shields, to deter AnsarAllah counterattacks. We can only hope this deplorable scheme crumbles as quickly as prior plans to shunt Gazans into Egypt and Jordan.